WASHINGTON -- Lockheed Martin announced it completed critical tests of a lunar solar array prototype, demonstrating the technology's potential for operating in the harsh environment of the moon's south pole.
The company developed one of three designs funded by NASA through approximately $20 million in contracts awarded in 2022 to Lockheed Martin, Blue Origin's Honeybee Robotics and Astrobotic as part of the agency's broader push to establish a sustainable presence on the moon. Under a program known as Lunar Vertical Solar Array Technology (LVSAT), the three companies developed vertical solar arrays designed to be deployable, relocatable and self-leveling -- able to autonomously extend and retract to maximize sunlight exposure.
Unlike traditional horizontal solar panels, these vertical arrays can extend up to 20 meters high, allowing them to capture sunlight above the terrain's shadows, including craters and boulders that could obstruct horizontal systems.
"If we are serious about sustainable lunar exploration, then we need to get serious about infrastructure," said Christie Iacomini, program manager for LVSAT at Lockheed Martin.
The company's prototype was integrated at its facility in Waterton, Colorado. Iacomini said the array has completed deployment tests, regolith simulant evaluations, and extreme cold-soak trials at temperatures as low as -230°C, simulating lunar night conditions.
Power is the linchpin for all other lunar infrastructure, from communications and transportation to habitat construction, said Rob Chambers, Lockheed Martin's director for human and scientific space exploration strategy.
At a news conference this month, Chambers said NASA "has done a great job in setting goals and objectives, but it's up to industry to implement it," Chambers said. "We need to start discussions about implementation."
The LVSAT arrays, he said, would be part of a lunar infrastructure strategy that Lockheed Martin has proposed, which includes leveraging lunar ice resources and exploring nuclear fission for continuous power generation during the 14-day lunar night when solar power is unavailable.
For now, LVSAT's future depends on NASA's next steps. An agency spokesperson confirmed that all three designs in the program are close to completing testing, with final reports due in early 2025. NASA is not treating the LVSAT program as a competitive selection process. If the agency moves forward with a lunar technology demonstration, it would issue a new solicitation, potentially laying the groundwork for an operational deployment.
NASA's Artemis program aims to tap the commercial sector to establish a long-term presence on the moon as a stepping stone to Mars. Yet, analysts caution that commercial lunar activity remains aspirational,
Sustainable lunar operations will require robust systems for power, communications, radiation shielding, navigation and regolith dust mitigation, all areas of the lunar economy that remain heavily dependent on government funding and objectives.