Airbus supplying largest Sparkwing solar arrays to MDA Space

Airbus will be providing Sparkwing solar arrays to power the the software-defined satellites used in Telesat’s Lightspeed LEO satellite constellation.

Sparkwing

Specifically, Airbus will be supply its Sparkwing arrays to the Canadian company MDA Space for the MDA AURORA product line. It has announced 200 such arrays will be built on a designated line at Airbus’ production facility in Leiden, the Netherlands.

Airbus says the solar arrays will be the largest Sparkwing to date, consisting of two wings with five panels each and providing a photovoltaic area of 30sqm.

As mentioned, driving the demand for the AURORA satellites is Telesat’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation Lightspeed. This follows Telesat’s selection of MDA as the prime satellite contractor for its LEO constellation.

“Our industrialised Sparkwing solar array product not only meets the demands of this ground-breaking constellation project, but is also tailored to ensure optimal performance in space,” said Rob Postma, Managing Director of Airbus in the Netherlands.

“The Sparkwing solar arrays are designed for series production, ideally suited for constellations, and we will accordingly contribute to a project enabling space connectivity.”

Airbus describes Sparkwing as “the world’s first commercially available, off-the-shelf solar array for small satellites”.

It was originally optimised for Low Earth Orbit missions requiring power levels between 100W and 2000W. However, it is now offered in thirty different panel dimensions. For example, it is configurable into deployable wings with one, two or three panels per wing.

Sparkwing has been developed by Airbus in the Netherlands, with the support of the Netherlands Space Office and ESA.

MDA Space

Note that last week MDA Space announced it was doubling its satellite manufacturing capability.

Construction is underway on a 185,000 square foot expansion of its satellite production facility in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec.

The company says will be the world’s largest high-volume manufacturing facility in its satellite class. For example, it will have the capacity to deliver up to two MDA AURORA digital satellites a day.

For example, an initial order of the 198 Telesat Lightspeed satellites will be produced at the new facility.

Images: Airbus