Gama raises €15M to make solar arrays for Europe
Published
French startup Gama has raised a €15 million seed round to build ultra-light deployable solar arrays for satellites. According to Payload, the round included European and US investors, among them Transition Ventures, Planet A, Draper Associates and Manta Ray.
The money will fund a factory outside Paris able to make 100 MW of arrays a year. Gama says its first units, called Wings, come off the line next year, and it plans to hire about 60 engineers. The company targets $10 per watt, and a first demonstration Wing is due in the middle of next year.
CEO Andrew Nutter says solar cells come from a small number of suppliers, with lead times of a year or more. Gama's answer is to make arrays thinner and lighter, then use software in the customer's flight computer to keep the spacecraft pointed accurately, so the floppy arrays need no extra mass. The company signed a partnership with US builder Eclipse Space in September.
Why does it matter? Payload calls it one of the largest seed rounds for a European space startup in recent years. The factory and the Wings are still to be proven, and the figures are the company's own claims.
Easy question: would you buy solar arrays from a European supplier if they cost a bit more?
Sources: Payload