Revolv Space has delivered the full set of four flight models of SARA Nano solar array drive assemblies (SADAs) to small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies, part of RTX’s Raytheon business, completing the last milestone of the subcontract for a NASA Earth science mission. The delivery follows two engineering models delivered earlier in the program and marks the transition from qualification to flight readiness for the units that will support the satellites on orbit.
The SADAs will power two 16U CubeSats built by Blue Canyon for NASA’s Polarized Submillimeter Ice Cloud Radiometer (PolSIR) mission, which is designed to study high-altitude ice clouds to improve global climate and weather models.
The two-satellite approach allows the mission to sample the full daily cycle of ice-cloud behavior, collecting data which scientists expect to sharpen global weather models. Revolv’s SADAs will support a sun-tracking power system, where the spacecraft’s solar arrays turn to achieve sun pointing, providing a continual power supply for the mission’s submillimeter radiometers.
Compact power, sized for space
On most satellites, available volume and power must be carefully allocated between the spacecraft bus and the science payload. SARA Nano is a flight-proven solar array drive assembly that is compact in size, weighing less than 500 grams. It supports ±180° solar-array rotation without slip rings and transfers up to 500 W of power in a
compact, configurable form factor.
By autonomously keeping the arrays pointed at the Sun, SARA Nano delivers a 40–50% increase in energy generation compared to fixed solar arrays. For a mission like PolSIR, more available power means a higher operational duty cycle and more time spent collecting data rather than saving energy.
A growing flight record
Founded in 2022, Revolv Space now has three space-proven products, 21 units operating in orbit across four launched missions and seven commercial clients. SARA Nano sits in the company’s flight-proven first-generation product line alongside the PAVEL solar array and the HOLLY deployment hinge, hardware that is already on orbit.
“Delivering flight hardware for a NASA mission, as well as commercial constellations, is exactly the bar we build to,” said Filippo Oggionni, Chief Commercial Officer and Co-Founder of Revolv Space. “Our job is to give satellite integrators like Blue Canyon
Technologies more power in less volume.”
