Gossamer Deployment Systems for Flexible Photovoltaics
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In recent years the German Aerospace Center (DLR) developed gossamer deployment systems in the GOSSAMER-
1 project with a focus on solar sails also equipped with small thin-film photovoltaic arrays. With our new project
GOSOLAR ahead, the focus is now entirely on gossamer deployment systems for huge thin-film photovoltaic arrays.
Based on the previous achievements in the field of deployment technology and qualification strategies, new
technology for the integration of thin-film photovoltaics will be developed and qualified with the goal of a first inorbit
technology demonstration. The time frame for this development is about five years. The two major objectives
of the project are the further development of deployment technology for a 25 m² gossamer solar power generator and
the development of a flexible photovoltaic membrane. In contrast to the GOSSAMER-1 deployment approach,
GOSOLAR enables a wider range of deployment concepts. The technology demonstration is supposed to employ the
S²TEP bus system which is developed on-site in parallel. While the development of a bus system is in consequence
not part of the GOSOLAR project, there are special challenges when it comes to the development of huge solar arrays.
The level of power required in the solar array application is about two orders of magnitude higher than for a sailcraft
of the same size. The currents required to carry power off the thin-film structure at commonly used bus voltages
result in a substantial harness cross-section. At the same time, there is a desire for higher voltages, e.g. to power
electrical propulsion directly. In consequence the first system GOSOLAR will be a low voltage system employing offthe-
shelf small spacecraft power system technology. The development of high power systems will be studied in
parallel and its implementation is left to future projects. Using an established test strategy, a characterization of the
deployment performance and deployment forces will be made based on a test-as-you-fly approach. It includes
vibration testing, fast decompression, partial deployment under thermal-vacuum and full-scale ambient deployment
on a test rig previously developed for GOSSAMER-1. The data gained can be used for further development and as
input for mechanism and structure sizing. Examples for the application of those testing strategies are the previous
DLR GOSSAMER-1 project, the ESA drag sail projects ‘Deployable Membrane’ and ‘Architectural Design and
Testing of a De-Orbiting Subsystem’ (ADEO) as well as the tether deployment of the HP³ experiment on the
NASA/JPL Mars mission INSIGHT.
[1] Martin E. Zander,et al. Gossamer-1: Mission concept and technology for a controlled deployment of gossamer spacecraft , 2017 .
[2] Bernd Dachwald,et al. Gossamer Roadmap Technology Reference Study for a Multiple NEO Rendezvous Mission , 2014 .
[3] Yugo Kimoto,et al. Total dose orbital data by dosimeter onboard Tsubasa (MDS-1) satellite , 2003 .
[4] Colin R. McInnes,et al. Gossamer Roadmap Technology Reference Study for a Solar Polar Mission , 2014 .