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Investing.com -- Ascent Solar Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:ASTI) stock surged 160% following the announcement of a collaboration with NASA to develop beamed power capabilities using the company’s CIGS thin-film photovoltaic modules.
The U.S.-based solar technology innovator will work with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and Glenn Research Center under a 12-month Collaborative Agreement Notice (CAN) to advance technology that could significantly reduce spacecraft mass and volume requirements. The partnership aims to develop commercial products for distributed space power infrastructure that could lower the cost and complexity of NASA missions.
The collaboration will evaluate Ascent’s CIGS photovoltaic modules’ ability to generate power when illuminated by energy-dense light beams, potentially converting more usable power from the equivalent of tens of Earth’s Suns. This capability could enable spacecraft to receive 10 times more power on-demand while using the same PV cells that collect sunlight.
"This collaboration with NASA further bolsters our longstanding belief that the unique capabilities of thin-film solar technology will play an integral role in overcoming the challenges of reliably converting solar energy and also receive beamed power in a breadth of harsh space environments," said Paul Warley, CEO of Ascent Solar Technologies.
The technology development follows NASA’s 2023 Psyche Mission, which demonstrated deep space laser communications across 19 million miles, validating tight-beaming technologies over vast distances. NASA also conducted bench-testing in 2024 using Ascent’s commercial products prior to the CAN award.
The partnership specifically targets applications for NASA’s lunar missions, including the Commercial Lunar Payload Services missions and the Artemis campaign to the Moon, potentially enabling operations during the lunar night and in permanently shadowed regions where water resources are believed to exist.
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