SunDrive, Space Machines Company target copper space solar arrays

By Rebecca Stone

A 200 kg vehicle for autonomous operations across Low Earth Orbit, Optimus Viper, will serve as the structural test platform for a body-mounted solar panel that SunDrive Solar and Space Machines Company (SMC) will develop in Australia.

The partnership aims to establish an Australian-made supply of solar arrays for commercial spacecraft and satellites. Its announced scope runs from cell selection through panel engineering, module bonding and environmental testing. No flight date was set. No order was announced.

SunDrive did not disclose a capital commitment, annual manufacturing capacity, panel throughput or delivery deadline. The announcement also names no launch customer or flight-readiness criterion.

What technology is SunDrive bringing to orbit?

SunDrive, which spun out of the University of New South Wales, uses proprietary copper electroplating to replace silver in solar-cell metallisation. The company aims to reduce manufacturing costs and improve cell efficiency.

Its ultra-thin, lightweight cells have delivered record-breaking results, although the collaboration announcement provides no efficiency percentage, cell mass or test standard for those results. Representatives from both companies were pictured at SunDrive’s Sydney facility.

SunDrive co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Vince Allen said every gram of array mass trades against payload in orbit. “SunDrive’s copper HJT technology brings together the ultra-thin, lightweight and high-efficiency performance needed for next-generation spacecraft solar arrays,” he said.

Allen added: “And applying that to SMC’s Optimus Viper program is a great opportunity to demonstrate what Australian innovation can achieve in the demanding environment of Low Earth Orbit.”

How is the space panel being developed?

The collaboration assigns each company a defined engineering role:

• SunDrive: Leads cell selection, module design, lamination and electrical characterisation.
• SMC: Leads substrate design, structural and thermal analysis, panel assembly and testing, and mounting the panel to a structural model of Optimus Viper.
• Both companies: Will jointly develop the process for bonding solar modules to the panel substrate.

The partners will subject the body-mounted panel to environmental testing, including thermal-vacuum and vibration testing. They say the results will generate the engineering and performance data needed to move toward a flight-ready solar array. No test location, schedule or pass criterion was disclosed.

Why does domestic supply matter?

SMC focuses on developing sovereign space transportation capabilities for Australia. Its co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Rajat Kulshrestha said solar arrays are among the most critical and costly parts of any spacecraft. Australian satellite programs currently depend on imported space-grade arrays, which he said limits both cost and supply.

“This collaboration began because two Australian companies saw a commercial reason to work together,” Kulshrestha said. “Other nations are moving quickly to secure their space supply chains, and partnerships like this are how Australia builds capability that lasts.”

Where does the commercial value sit?

SunDrive Chief Executive Officer Natalie Malligan said demand is growing for power systems that combine high performance, resilience, low mass and scalability. Both companies want more of that value chain retained in Australia. Malligan said the country could build and own critical technologies underpinning the space economy instead of merely participating in it.

Those statements define the commercial ambition. The announcement identifies no final production site for flight-qualified arrays, no ownership terms for jointly developed technology and no procurement timetable. The panel remains an announced research project, not an established production line.

What milestone comes next?

The announcement provides no test-completion date, purchase order or production volume. The decisive next milestone is flight readiness for the body-mounted array, supported by completed thermal-vacuum and vibration test data. Commercial adoption by a spacecraft or satellite program is the market test beyond it.