Vertical Solar Goes to the Moon: What Lockheed Martin's VSAT Shows About the Technology
Vertical solar is not only being developed for homes, farms and utility sites on Earth. Aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin has been developing Vertical Solar Array Technology, or VSAT, specifically engineered to power future NASA lunar missions, a project that demonstrates just how far the core engineering logic of vertical solar can be pushed.
8/18/20262 min read
Why vertical orientation makes sense on the Moon
Lockheed Martin's own materials explain that certain locations near the Moon's south pole receive sunlight for 80 to 90 percent of the time, but because the Sun stays low on the horizon there, any solar array needs to capture light efficiently at very shallow angles rather than from overhead. This is the same underlying challenge that drives vertical solar adoption on Earth in high-latitude or winter-shadowed conditions: when the sun sits close to the horizon for extended periods, a vertical or near-vertical panel orientation captures usable light far more effectively than a flat or shallow-tilt array.
Scale and engineering
According to Lockheed Martin, its VSAT structure can extend up to about 19.8 meters, roughly the length of two school buses, specifically to take fuller advantage of the Moon's persistent low-angle sunlight. The system is designed to deploy and retract autonomously, allowing it to be relocated as mission needs change, and it has reportedly been tested in conditions simulating lunar gravity, uneven terrain and extreme cold to confirm it can operate reliably in an environment far harsher than anything encountered on Earth.
What the array is meant to power
Lockheed Martin describes VSAT as intended to support several categories of lunar operation: supplying continuous power to habitation modules for life support and lighting, charging rovers and other mobility vehicles used for exploration, and powering in-situ resource utilization systems that extract and process local lunar materials. The project is part of a broader NASA-backed effort; Lockheed Martin was one of three companies selected in 2022 to advance vertical solar array concepts capable of autonomous deployment and relocation on the lunar surface.
What this demonstrates about vertical solar as a category
A project built to survive the Moon's extreme conditions is, in a sense, a stress test of the entire concept behind vertical solar: that standing panels upright, rather than laying them flat or tilting them toward the sun, is often the more effective design choice specifically in low-sun-angle, resource-constrained or space-constrained environments. Earth-based applications, from alpine winters to remote sites with limited land, are working from the same basic principle at a very different scale.
Key takeaways
Built for low-angle sunlight: the Moon's south pole sees near-constant but low-angle sun, which favors vertical orientation.
Large, deployable structure: VSAT extends up to roughly 19.8 meters and can retract for relocation.
Tested for extreme conditions: simulated lunar gravity, uneven terrain and extreme cold have been part of testing.
Supports critical operations: intended to power habitats, rover charging and resource extraction systems.
Validates the core principle: vertical orientation is chosen specifically for its low-angle light performance, the same reasoning behind terrestrial vertical solar.
FAQ
Does Lockheed Martin's lunar technology relate to Lumiton Solar's products?
They are different technologies built for very different environments, but both are built on the same underlying principle: vertical panel orientation performs better than flat or tilted panels when sunlight arrives at consistently low angles.
Why is a vertical design better for the Moon's south pole?
The Moon's south pole receives sunlight most of the time, but the Sun remains low on the horizon, so a vertical structure can capture that light more effectively than a flat or tilted panel designed for overhead sun.
Is this technology only useful for space applications?
No. The same low-angle light capture advantage that makes vertical orientation useful on the Moon also applies to Earth-based sites with low winter sun angles or significant diffuse light conditions.
Learn more about vertical solar engineering
Lumiton Solar can explain how the same low-angle light capture principle behind lunar vertical solar research applies to terrestrial projects, from alpine sites to remote installations.