Astrotech Makes Proposal to Provide Advanced Lunar Power Infrastructure Under NASA NextSTEP-3 Program
Key Highlights
- ➤Astrotech (ASTC) submits AVSAM proposal to NASA’s NextSTEP-3 lunar infrastructure program
- ➤AMPS targets TRL 4-to-6 maturation through design, prototype integration, and environmental testing
- ➤Proposed system delivers 6 kilowatts continuously over 100 meters at 120 volts DC
- ➤Astrotech and Skycorp envision commercial lunar utility services for NASA and private customers
- ➤Proposal is not a NASA award, contract, authorization, endorsement, or funding commitment
Expert Statements
Thomas B. Pickens III, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Astrotech
“Our objective is to help establish the electric utility infrastructure that will make sustained lunar activity possible”
Thomas B. Pickens III, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Astrotech
“We see the opportunity to apply terrestrial utility operating principles to a scalable lunar power network that can serve multiple customers.”
Illustrative schematic of proposed Lunar Utilities Corporation power network, including elevated solar arrays, power distribution, communications and robotic charging.
AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Astrotech Corporation (NASDAQ: ASTC) today announced it has submitted a proposal, developed in collaboration with Skycorp Incorporated, to NASA for the NASA Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-3 (NextSTEP-3) Lunar Enabling Infrastructure Accelerator (LEIA), Appendix A, Topic 1: Vertical Solar Array. The proposed project, Astrotech Vertical Solar Array Maturation (AVSAM), would advance critical elements of the Astrotech Mobile Power System (AMPS) for potential future lunar surface use.
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