A small Long Beach company, Rocket Lab, has released a space solar cell that reaches high efficiency without germanium, a mineral whose supply has grown tight and politically fraught. The move reflects an old human pattern: when a resource becomes scarce and concentrated in one place, the search for substitutes begins in earnest. Whether this cell becomes a lasting part of how we power machines beyond Earth will depend on the harder terrain of deep space and the patient judgment of those who must choose what to fly.
Rocket Lab's Germanium-Free IMM Apex Solar Cell Targets a Key Spacecraft Supply Bottleneck
Dropping germanium removes the supply pressure tied to it.
Mark
Why does a solar cell make news? It sounds like a component story.
Mimi
Because the component has a choke point. Many legacy space cells use germanium substrates, and germanium is scarce and tied up in geopolitics. Apex removes it.
Mark
And it still performs?
Mimi
Rocket Lab says 31.5% beginning-of-life efficiency. The best germanium-reliant cells are around 32%, so it's close.
Luke
Worth noting those are the company's figures. The source doesn't mention independent testing, and 'beginning of life' is the number before degradation, so it says little about how the cell ages.
Mark
What about the price of germanium?
Mimi
$3,150 per kilogram in January 2025, over $5,000 by October. China supplied about 41% of U.S. needs in 2024 and imposed bans from 2023 to 2025.
Luke
Fair, but the source doesn't say how much of Apex's value comes from avoiding that cost. We don't know Apex's price either.
Mark
Why not just use silicon like SpaceX?
Mimi
Silicon works in low Earth orbit, where satellites are replaced every five to seven years and cost matters. For geostationary or deep-space missions, it's limited, and bigger arrays are hard to stow.
Luke
And whether customers will actually choose Apex is still open. The piece itself says only time will tell.
Il Polso
- A scarce mineral that most space solar cells have relied on has become costly and concentrated in one supplier country, tightening a bottleneck for satellite builders.
- Germanium prices climbed from about $3,150 to over $5,000 per kilogram within roughly nine months, pressing on every program that depends on it.
- Rocket Lab's IMM Apex cell reaches 31.5% beginning-of-life efficiency while removing germanium, aiming to fit existing arrays without redesign.
- SpaceX's silicon-based approach works well in low Earth orbit, but silicon struggles in deep-space and geostationary missions where Apex might find its niche.
- The cell's commercial fate remains open, and its success will be measured by whether mission planners choose it over proven alternatives.
A small Long Beach company, Rocket Lab, has released a space solar cell that reaches high efficiency without germanium, a mineral whose supply has grown tight and politically fraught. The move reflects an old human pattern: when a resource becomes scarce and concentrated in one place, the search for substitutes begins in earnest. Whether this cell becomes a lasting part of how we power machines beyond Earth will depend on the harder terrain of deep space and the patient judgment of those who must choose what to fly.
Rocket Lab, the Long Beach company that competes with SpaceX, has launched a space-grade solar cell built without germanium, a mineral the industry has struggled to obtain. The product, Inverted Metamorphic Apex or IMM Apex, is said to match the efficiency of modern cells while taking the scarce material out of the supply chain. Its beginning-of-life efficiency is 31.5%, and the cells are about 40% lighter than existing cells in their class. They can slot into existing solar arrays without a redesign.
Germanium has become a quiet pressure point. Many legacy cells use germanium substrates, and the mineral is also prized for fiber optics. China supplied about 41% of U.S. imports in 2024, and Chinese export bans between 2023 and 2025 tightened availability further. European-sourced prices rose from $3,150 per kilogram in January 2025 to more than $5,000 by October of that year.
SpaceX has taken another path, relying on silicon arrays that are cheaper and workable in low Earth orbit, where satellites are replaced every few years. Silicon falls short in geostationary orbit and on deep-space missions, where sunlight is weaker and arrays must be larger. That is where a germanium-free cell at 31.5% could matter most. Whether Apex becomes a commercial success is not yet known.
Rocket Lab, the Long Beach-based space company that competes with SpaceX, has launched a space-grade solar cell built without one of the materials the industry has struggled to get: germanium. The product is called Inverted Metamorphic Apex, or IMM Apex, and the company says it matches the efficiency of modern cells while taking the scarce mineral out of the supply chain.
The numbers Rocket Lab offers are specific. The cells are 40% lighter than existing cells in the same class, and they reach a beginning-of-life conversion efficiency of 31.5%. For comparison, as of 2026 some of the best-performing cells that rely on elements like germanium deliver around 32%, while silicon-based cells deliver roughly 20%. Apex is not the most efficient cell Rocket Lab makes, but dropping germanium removes the supply pressure tied to it. The cells can also slot into existing solar arrays without a redesign.
Apex builds on the company's existing flight-proven cells, the same technology that powered NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter. A new version of Ingenuity is planned for NASA's upcoming Skyfall mission, with rotor blades designed to break the sound barrier. Rocket Lab has also recently announced silicon-based solar arrays aimed specifically at powering orbital data centers, which points to a broader lineup for different orbital uses.
Germanium matters because most modern satellites and spacecraft need solar arrays, and many legacy cells use germanium substrates. It is a relatively scarce mineral and is also in demand for products like fiber optics. China was the primary supplier to the U.S., contributing about 41% in 2024. Chinese bans between 2023 and 2025 strained availability, part of a series of political moves between the two countries that also saw China make advances in homegrown chip manufacturing in response to restrictions on lithography machines.
Price reflects the squeeze. European-sourced germanium cost $3,150 per kilogram in January 2025 and rose to more than $5,000 per kilogram by October of that year. China remains the leading producer, with U.S. imports shared among Belgium, Canada, Germany, and Russia.
SpaceX has taken a different route, using silicon-based arrays. Silicon is a viable alternative to current technology, but it has limited use in geostationary orbits or on deep-space missions. In low Earth orbit, solar cell degradation is far more contained, and satellites are replaced every five to seven years. Silicon arrays are also cheaper, which matters with thousands of Starlink satellites in orbit.
The tradeoff is size. Less efficient silicon cells can work on larger arrays, but deep-space spacecraft already need bigger arrays because sunlight is weaker, and that becomes a problem where stowed volume is limited. That is the niche where a germanium-free cell at 31.5% could matter. Whether Rocket Lab turns Apex into commercial success is not yet known.
Citazioni salienti
The IMM Apex cells are 40% lighter than existing cells in the same class and can slot into existing arrays without redesign.— Rocket Lab, as reported by BGR
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