Biden administration looks to give Rocket Lab $24M to boost space-grade solar cell production

Rocket Lab is poised to snap up round $24 million in federal funding to dramatically enhance the manufacturing of its compound semiconductors, often known as photo voltaic cells, which give energy to satellites and spacecraft. 

The funding, which might go to Rocket Lab subsidiary SolAero Applied sciences, would assist enhance the corporate’s compound semiconductor manufacturing by 50% inside the subsequent three years. Rocket Lab-made photo voltaic cells have been used to energy lots of of satellites and spacecraft, together with vital science just like the James Webb House Telescope and business constellations like OneWeb’s satellite tv for pc web constellation. 

The U.S. Commerce Division introduced the non-binding preliminary funding settlement on Tuesday.

“Photo voltaic cells are vital for preserving our communication and area expertise powered and operational, and this proposed award would assist our navy, NASA, and our business area trade have entry to the specialty semiconductors they want,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement. 

Along with the federal funding, the state of New Mexico — the place SolAero relies — dedicated to offering financing and incentives that worth $25.5 million. The funding would assist the corporate construct out its Albuquerque-based services and create greater than 100 direct manufacturing jobs, Rocket Lab mentioned in an announcement. 

The brand new funding would come out of a $52.7 billion pot of cash that was created with the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act by President Joe Biden in 2022. It goals to revitalize home semiconductor manufacturing and enhance home provide chain resilience. 

Rocket Lab acquired SolAero, which operates a ~115,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, in 2022 for $80 million. The corporate is one in every of simply two in america that focuses on the manufacturing of space-grade, radiation-resistant compound semiconductors, or space-grade photo voltaic cells. SolAero is very vertically built-in: Along with the photo voltaic cells, the agency additionally manufactures photo voltaic panels and energy modules.