DSS awarded contract by Maxar Technologies to provide ROSA Solar Arrays for the Ovzon 3 Legion-class Geostationary Satellite
Santa Barbara / Goleta, California, January 6, 2020 – Deployable Space Systems, Inc. (DSS), a leading supplier of innovative flexible blanket and rigid panel solar array systems, and deployable structures, announced today that it has been awarded a contract by Maxar Technologies to design and build two Roll-Out Solar Arrays (ROSA) for the Ovzon 3 Legion-class geostationary satellite.
Rendering of ROSA Solar Arrays Integrated to Maxar’s Ovzon 3 Spacecraft.
Image: Maxar / Ovzon / Proventus AB
Ovzon 3 will provide extremely versatile mobile broadband communications for small vehicles, aircraft and users on-the-move. The Ovzon 3 satellite is based on Maxar’s innovative Legion-class spacecraft platform, which is built with a scalable, modular architecture to meet a broad range of mission applications. Ovzon 3 is expected to be launched in 2021.
“The scalability and power of the Roll-Out Solar Array system strongly complements the flexibility and modularity of our Legion-class platform, which is designed to reliably address our customer’s mission requirements with shorter schedules and lower development and launch costs,” said Megan Fitzgerald, Maxar’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Space Infrastructure. “We’re pleased to continue our close collaboration with DSS, which shares in our innovative mindset and commitment to delivering disruptive value. Maxar is gratified that our multi-year investment in DSS and their technology is now operational for both commercial and government missions.”
ROSA is a groundbreaking, ultra-lightweight, compact, modular and scalable solar array system that was successfully demonstrated on the International Space Station in June 2017. Various modular versions of the ROSA solar array are also being produced for NASA’s DART Mission, the Power and Propulsion Element Maxar is developing for NASA’s Gateway program, and many other proprietary, civilian, and commercial applications. ROSA is available for use on all of Maxar’s spacecraft platforms.
ROSA Solar Array Demonstrated on ISS in June 2017
ROSA Solar Array Qualification Wing for SSL, a Maxar Technologies company, for High Power GEO Satellite and Space Exploration Missions
“DSS is proud to support Maxar and its customer with the enabling ROSA solar array system for this new class of advanced, modular, flexible, and affordable geostationary spacecraft,” said Brian Spence, President of DSS. “DSS is honored to contribute our game-changing ROSA technology, leveraged substantially from our many ROSA solar array flight programs, for this exciting new Legion-class spacecraft. For more than a decade, DSS has been at the forefront of advanced solar array system technology development, design, manufacture, and validation testing to provide enabling-performance and affordability for many mission applications. ROSA is the highly successful offspring of DSS’s rigorous technology validation and commercial infusion activities. DSS is committed to maintaining ROSA as the highest quality, most affordable, and highest performance solar array solution available.”
About Deployable Space Systems, Inc. (DSS)
Deployable Space Systems, Inc. (DSS) is a leading provider of satellite mechanisms, deployable structures / booms, and deployable solar array systems to the global space markets, encompassing a wide array of technology solutions and applications including civil space exploration, science and earth observation, defense intelligence and communication, and commercial telecommunications industries. DSS’s product portfolio include the award winning and patented ROSA (Roll-Out-Solar Array), IMBA, Aladdin, Rigid-Panel, and FACT solar array technologies, a multitude of elastically and articulated deployable structures/booms, open-lattice booms, telescopic booms, and a variety of mission-enabling mechanisms for space applications. DSS’s current diversified customer base includes The Boeing Company, Maxar Technologies, Thales Alenia Space, Ball Aerospace, Applied Physics Laboratory, Air Force Research Laboratory, SMC, and NASA. The business was founded in 2008, is solely owned and operated, and is headquartered in Goleta, California, USA. For more information about DSS, visit www.dss-space.com
About Maxar
Maxar is a trusted partner and innovator in Earth Intelligence and Space Infrastructure. We deliver disruptive value to government and commercial customers to help them monitor, understand and navigate our changing planet; deliver global broadband communications; and explore and advance the use of space. Our unique approach combines decades of deep mission understanding and a proven commercial and defense foundation to deploy solutions and deliver insights with unrivaled speed, scale and cost effectiveness. Maxar’s 5,900 team members in 30 global locations are inspired to harness the potential of space to help our customers create a better world. Maxar trades on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange as MAXR. For more information, visit www.maxar.com
About Ovzon
Ovzon is revolutionizing mobile broadband via satellite providing the highest bandwidth through the smallest terminals. Our advanced proprietary satellite technology and unique ultra-small terminals enable mobile users to connect anywhere and transfer large amounts of data.
Ovzon’s end-to-end solutions meet the growing demand of global connectivity for customers with high performance requirements including Government, Media, Maritime, Aviation and NGOs. Our dedicated and experienced team ensures a premium service for our demanding global customers.
Founded in 2006, Ovzon has offices in Stockholm, Sweden and Bethesda, MD and Tampa, FL in the United States. Ovzon is publicly listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market.
About the ROSA Solar Array
The multiple patented and award winning (2016 R&D-100 Award for Most Market Disruptive Technology) ROSA solar array technology is a new and innovative mission-enabling rolled flexible blanket solar array system that offers greatly improved performance over conventional rigid panel solar arrays and other state-of-the-art solar arrays, as well as greater affordability for use on future NASA, Air Force, and commercial space missions. The DSS ROSA solar array features an innovative “roll out” design which uses composite booms to serve as both the primary structural elements and the deployment actuator, and a modular photovoltaic blanket assembly that can be configured into a multitude of solar array architectures. The stored strain energy of the booms enforces the unrolling deployment actuation, and when fully deployed the rigid booms provide the solar arrays’ structural stiffness and strength. The ROSA technology achieves this simplicity without the use of complex mechanisms, intricate hinges or expensive motors/controllers typically associated with other competing solar array technologies. The ROSA solar array, when configured for launch, stows into a compact cylindrical volume yielding efficient space utilization. The unique ROSA stowed configuration is able to allow extremely large solar array deployed areas to be stowed very compactly for packaging within launch vehicles because its solar cells are mounted on an innovative rollable modular flexible blanket which is much thinner than traditional rigid panel solar arrays currently in use. Maxar Technologies, and other commercial end-users, are implementing DSS’s ROSA technology onto heritage commercial satellite platforms, enabling higher spacecraft power, enhanced payload capability, and improved solar array performance and affordability. ROSA is also currently being spaceflight-implemented on NASA’s DART program, two proprietary flight programs, a commercial program, and is baseline on numerous proposed missions.
A photograph of the ROSA solar array deployed on ISS is shown above. A video compilation of the ROSA spaceflight demonstration mission is available at the following link: vimeo.com/226383484
