Roll Out Solar Array

Common card · No. 434701

The Roll Out Solar Array (ROSA) and its larger version ISS Roll Out Solar Array (iROSA) are lightweight, flexible power sources for spacecraft designed and developed by Redwire. This new type of solar array provides much more energy than traditional solar arrays at much less mass. Traditional solar panels used to power satellites are bulky, with heavy panels folded together using mechanical hinges. Given a space-bound payload is limited in its mass and volume by necessity, ROSA is 20 percent lighter (with a mass of 325 kg (717 lb)) and one-fourth the volume of rigid panel arrays with the same performance. ROSA is a flexible and rollable solar array that operates the same way a measuring tape unwinds on its spool. The new solar array design rolls up to form a compact cylinder for launch with significantly less mass and volume, potentially offering substantial cost savings as well as an increase in power for satellites. ROSA has a center wing made of a flexible material which support the...

Read on Wikipedia · Image NASA/Crew-2, Public domain