Redwire unveils new solar array

WASHINGTON — Redwire has introduced a new solar array product designed for mass-produced satellites that require high performance while minimizing mass.

The company announced March 3 the Extensible Low-Profile Solar Array, or ELSA, based on technology developed for its Roll-Out Solar Array, or ROSA, used on the International Space Station and other spacecraft.

ELSA is designed to provide 50% more power per unit of volume than Redwire’s existing arrays. It is also intended to minimize volume when stowed for launch while “remaining competitive” with other arrays in terms of price and performance.

Redwire said it expects demand for ELSA from mass-produced satellites being developed for government and commercial customers, including communications and other applications.

“Demand for power in space is already robust and will only continue to grow at a rapid pace,” Mike Gold, president of Redwire’s space business segment, said in a statement. “We’re eager to leverage the singular success and flight heritage of ROSA to support the growing needs of customers for innovative power solutions.”

The company first discussed ELSA during a Feb. 26 earnings call.

“ELSA is engineered for volume production and offers a step-change improvement in modular, scalable design and rapid turnarounds to drive down costs and improve delivery times,” Peter Cannito, chairman and chief executive of Redwire, said on the call.

“We look forward to announcing key ELSA contract awards in the near future as the industry recognizes the benefits and performance of this new product line,” he added.

The announcement comes amid increasing demand for satellite power systems, driven by both the growing number of satellites and interest in high-power applications such as edge computing and orbital data centers.

Rocket Lab, for example, said during a Feb. 26 earnings call that it is now offering space-optimized silicon solar arrays that it believes address past concerns about performance and lifetime.

“By harnessing silicon, we’re able to deliver a really low cost per watt at industrial scale, enabling gigawatt-class power generation in space at kilometer-size scale, using mass-manufacturable, lightweight and modular systems,” Peter Beck, Rocket Lab’s chief executive, said on the call.

Company earnings

During its earnings call, Redwire reported $335.4 million in revenue for 2025, a 10.3% increase from 2024. However, the company’s net loss nearly doubled to $226.6 million in 2025, compared with $114.3 million in 2024.

“In 2025, Redwire transformed from a pure-play space provider to an agile, scaled, multi-domain space and defense tech company,” Cannito said, citing the company’s acquisition of drone developer Edge Autonomy.

Redwire now operates two business units, space and defense tech, and has a more balanced portfolio of products in production and development. The defense tech business includes Edge Autonomy as well as defense-focused space technologies such as optics and other payloads, Cannito said.

Redwire projected $450 million to $500 million in revenue for 2026. Although space and defense tech revenue was evenly split in the fourth quarter of 2025, Chris Edmunds, chief financial officer of Redwire, said he expects defense revenue to grow faster than space revenue in 2026.