The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) has been selected to lead the United States Space Force University Consortium/Space Strategic Technology Institute 3 (SSTI) research regarding advanced space power and propulsion, which is backed by $9.9 million in funding.
The research is in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory and will enable game-changing space power and propulsion technology that will transition to the U.S. Department of Defense. The University of Michigan is also a lead institution for this research, which will include advancements in solar technology, thruster technology, and novel power approaches. As a center leader for the SSTI, RIT will work with other university partners to develop lower-cost, sustainable solar cells that can be used for power systems.
Specifically, the team will be building off work by Ahmad Kirmani, assistant professor in the School of Chemistry and Materials Science, with perovskites and their use in space.
"We have found some really surprising and astonishing properties," said Kirmani. "Perovskites appear to hold up at energy levels and intensity levels far higher than silicon, and silicon has been used for powering space satellites. We have been recreating space stressors like radiation, vacuums, and atomic oxygen to see how perovskites perform."
