MissionIR News - EMCORE Corp. (EMKR) Wins Solar Panel Manufacturing Contract from ATK for NASA’s InSight Mars Lander Mission

MissionIR would like to highlight EMCORE Corp. (NASDAQ: EMKR), a prominent supplier of compound semiconductor-based components and subsystems for use in the fiber optics and space solar power markets. The company is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of highly-efficient radiation-hard solar cells for space power applications. With a Beginning-Of-Life (BOL) conversion efficiency nearing 30%, and the option for a patented, onboard monolithic bypass diode, EMCORE’s industry-leading multi-junction solar cells provide the highest levels of performance to interplanetary spacecraft and earth orbiting satellites.

In the company’s news yesterday,

EMCORE Corp. announced that ATK (NYSE:ATK) has awarded a contract to the company for the design and manufacture solar panels to be installed on NASA’s InSight Mars Lander. The mission is slated for launch in March of 2016, and will be managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

The solar panels will feature EMCORE’s most cutting edge ZTJ triple-junction solar cells and will provide power to the InSight spacecraft. The Lander will be constructed and operated by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company in Denver. ATK will manage the synergy of its legacy-designed UltraFlex solar arrays and EMCORE’s solar panels for the final flight configuration of the spacecraft.

InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) is a NASA Discovery Program mission that will transport a single geophysical lander from Earth to the surface of Mars in order to study its deep interior. InSight will also serve as a terrestrial planet explorer that will lead to the discovery of the processes that formed the rocky planets.

“Missions of this magnitude require extremely high reliability and proven performance,” said David Messner, Vice President and General Manager of Solar Arrays and Deployables for ATK’s Space Components division. “We are pleased to be partnering with EMCORE again, this time to support the exploration of the Martian surface for Lockheed Martin and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as part of the exciting Mars InSight program.”

“This contract with ATK is a very important award for EMCORE, and we are honored once again to contribute to NASA’s next mission to Mars,” said Dr. Brad Clevenger, Executive Vice President and General Manager of EMCORE’s Photovoltaics Division. “EMCORE has partnered with ATK on many successful programs and has supported several high-profile NASA-JPL missions including the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) that carried the rover ‘Curiosity’ to Mars.”

“EMCORE is in the process of delivering solar panels for several other NASA missions including the Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) with ATK,” added Navid Fatemi, Vice President of Business Development for EMCORE Photovoltaics. “We greatly value our long-standing business relationship with ATK and look forward to another successful partnership with ATK on NASA’s Insight Mars Lander mission.”

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