Eclipse, Gama target 100kW-class satellite solar power

(SpaceEnergy) Eclipse Space and French space-power company Gama are developing scalable satellite solar systems targeting more than 100kW, with their first in-space demonstration planned for 2028.

US satellite infrastructure company Eclipse unveiled the partnership alongside three spacecraft platforms spanning direct-to-device communications, broadband and orbital computing.

The companies plan to combine Gama’s large deployable solar-array technology with Eclipse’s spacecraft power systems, focusing on scaling the architecture for high-volume constellation production. The proposed power system is intended to grow from communications spacecraft towards future systems exceeding 100kW.

Eclipse’s SurgeSat orbital-compute platform is specified with two solar arrays producing 100kW peak power and a 400m² radiator for heat rejection. The company says the electrical architecture is intended to support continuous artificial-intelligence processing and other compute-intensive workloads in orbit.

Its smaller CitraSat and SliceSat platforms are specified at 6kW and 8kW peak solar power respectively.

“Together, we are developing a power system designed not just for performance, but for the economics and production volumes large constellations require,” Gama chief executive Andrew Nutter said in the company-issued announcement.

The partners did not disclose the financial terms of the agreement.