Revolv Space has announced the completion of integration and testing for its Solar Array Drive Assembly (SADA), named SARA, on DPhi Space‘s Clustergate-1 hosted payload platform.
With the mission set for the first half of 2025 on D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier, this marks the final step before SARA embarks on its inaugural spaceflight, offering critical validation of its performance in orbit.
SARA is not just another Solar Array Drive Assembly. It is the first autonomous, fail-safe solution tailored for small satellites, designed to combine the efficiency of sun-tracking solar wings with the dependability of fixed solar panels. Utilizing flexible PCB technology, SARA ensures up to 500W of power transfer per unit while maintaining a cost-effective and customizable design.
One of its standout features is SnapBack, a passive mechanism that repositions solar arrays to a reference state in case of anomalies in the satellite bus. Coupled with an integrated sun-tracking suite, SARA operates autonomously, tracking the sun to maximize power generation.
“Partnering with DPhi Space and utilizing their Clustergate platform allows us to get to orbit as fast as possible,” said Marco Sala, CEO and Co-founder of Revolv Space.
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Advanced technology and strategic collaboration
Revolv Space specializes in designing, manufacturing, and testing next-generation satellite mechanisms and power systems. Operating from Torino, Italy, and Noordwijk, Netherlands, the company offers a family of Solar Array Drive Assemblies for small satellites, supporting power ranges from 100W to 5kW.
In their latest funding round they secured an investment of €2.6 million, with the round led by Primo Ventures through the Primo Space fund, with additional support from Takeoff, the Aerospace and Advanced Hardware Accelerator of the CDP Venture Capital National Network.
The upcoming mission will demonstrate SARA’s capabilities on DPhi Space’s Clustergate-1 platform, which simplifies the deployment of hosted payloads by aggregating multiple payloads on a single satellite bus.
Aziz Belkhiria, CEO of DPhi Space, highlighted the role of Clustergate: “Our collaboration with Revolv Space is a great example of how Clustergate helps flight prove novel developments and make them ready to be commercialized. We can’t wait to receive the first telemetry of SARA from space and raise it to TRL [Technology Readiness Level] 9.”
Additionally, DPhi Space’s Clustergate platform has been integrated into D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier, a trusted delivery system with a proven track record of 14 consecutive successful launches.
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Mission objectives and future prospects
The mission will primarily focus on validating SARA’s design and performance in space. Key objectives include:
- Deployment using Revolv Space’s proprietary HOLLY hinge
- Demonstration of both manual and autonomous solar array actuation
- Testing SnapBack’s fail-safe mechanism in operational scenarios.
The mission is a crucial step in elevating SARA to Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 9, the highest level of technological maturity. To further bolster its credibility, Revolv Space has secured a second in-orbit demonstration mission with another, yet to disclose European partner, to expand its flight heritage.
Looking ahead, Revolv Space is working on the qualification of a larger SADA model to support bigger satellite platforms.
In an interview with Space Voyaging back in February of this year, Filippo Oggionni talked about the company’s future plans: “We’re actively working on a larger version to target satellites up to 500 kg, expanding our reach and impact,” he said.
“Beyond power systems, we’ve identified several limitations that require attention. For instance, addressing communication system limitations and enhancing thermal management through mechanisms are part of our ongoing endeavors,” he added.
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