POWER PLAYER

With its roll-up solar panels, space company Redwire is fueling our return to the moon.

- BY DAVID SALAZAR PHOTOGRAPH BY NOAH WEBB

ROCK(ET) AND ROLL Redwire's pair of roll-out solar panels were built for space contractor Lanteris to run the Gateway space station's power and propulsion element.

IN TWO YEARS, THERE COULD BE A SPACE STATION orbiting the moon. NASA’s Gateway Lunar Space Station, set to launch as early as 2027, will support the Artemis IV and V moon missions and, eventually, be a jumping-off point for missions to Mars. And maybe, one day, a colony.

But before any of that can happen, the Gateway will need a power source—a powerful one, at that. The challenge is getting that energy supply into orbit the way anything reaches space: in the nose cone of a rocket.