Design & fabrication of the Lockheed Martin solar cell demonstration experiment for the ISS Forward Technology Solar Cell Experiment II

The Naval Research Labs (NRL) has been funded for the second Forward Solar Cell Technology Experiment (FTSCE). As part of a risk reduction effort for future programs, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC) fabricated a flight experiment for FTSCE II. The experiment consists of two coupons. The first coupon has UTJ and BTJM solar cells from Spectrolab and Emcore respectively. The second coupon has Spectrolab´s next generation XTJ solar cell and Emcore´s next generation ZTJM solar cell. In addition to getting AM0 electrical data and solar cell flight experience in low earth orbit for these solar cells, another objective of the experiment is to validate atomic oxygen protection designs for the solar cell and substrate. The coupons have been fabricated and delivered to NRL. The FTSCE II package will be mounted on the International Space Station in November 2009 and is expected to be in orbit approximately one year.