Apogee Semiconductor’s technology could help enable the space agency’s exploration of the Moon—and beyond.
Apogee Semiconductor is one of 14 partner companies—along with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture and Elon Musk’s SpaceX—whose technologies could help enable NASA’s “Moon to Mars” exploration. The space agency partners with companies to work on advanced space technologies.
Apogee Semiconductor was awarded by NASA to work with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to develop a flexible, radiation-hardened switching power controller capable of being configured based on a mission’s power needs. The plan is for this technology to be used for missions to the Moon, Mars, Jupiter’s moon Europa, and other destinations.
A Building Block Approach To Better Power Supply ICs: Apogee is working to bridge this technology gap between commercial and rad hard power components by developing rad hard building block functions, which customers can use to implement power conversion or power management functions.
Spacecraft systems designs today are more cost- and time-to-market-sensitive than ever before, pitting large and expensive traditional designs against a new “good-enough” approach that promises low costs and access to the latest technologies.
The fast growth of small satellites and their lower life cycle and launch costs has created a sizable market for low-cost electronic components that have radiation-resistant characteristics. Designers are forced to get creative with their design processes and business models to meet these demand…