Texas Border Business
By Texas Border Business
BASTROP, Texas — SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG, a German manufacturer of solar cell production equipment, announced Tuesday that it has signed a supply contract with SpaceX to provide a complete production line for manufacturing high-efficiency solar cells at the company’s facility in Bastrop, Texas.
The agreement is part of a broader strategic partnership between the two companies, with SINGULUS planning to deliver additional production lines as SpaceX expands its satellite manufacturing operations.
According to SINGULUS, the first production line is scheduled for delivery during the first half of 2027. The partnership is intended to support manufacturing expansion involving more than 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar cell production equipment capacity.
The equipment will manufacture heterojunction solar cells, a technology that combines different semiconductor layers to improve the efficiency of converting sunlight into electricity.
These solar cells will support SpaceX’s satellite manufacturing operations in Texas, where the company continues developing equipment and technology for its space-based communications systems.
Lars Lieberwirth, a member of SINGULUS’s Executive Board, said the partnership offers an opportunity to scale up the company’s manufacturing technologies.
“Our unique platform approach, which combines wet chemistry, vacuum coating and thermal processing, is a strong differentiator in the market,” Lieberwirth said.
He added that the partnership would allow SINGULUS to further develop its manufacturing capabilities and strengthen its position as a Western supplier of advanced solar cell technology.
Mike Nicolls, SpaceX’s Senior Vice President of Starlink, said the agreement would provide manufacturing technology for solar cells used in the company’s Starmind satellites.
“Partnering with SINGULUS gives us a high-performance manufacturing path for solar cells for our Starmind satellites at our production facility in Texas,” Nicolls said.
The companies established their strategic partnership in March 2026. According to SINGULUS, SpaceX provided significant financial support that month and additional funding in October through a recently announced subordinated secured loan.
SINGULUS develops and manufactures industrial equipment used in solar energy, semiconductor production, medical technology, packaging, automotive manufacturing, batteries and hydrogen technologies.
Its manufacturing systems use vacuum coating, wet chemical processing and thermal treatment technologies to produce specialized materials and components.
The company also develops equipment intended to improve manufacturing efficiency, reduce resource consumption and support environmentally responsible industrial production.
The agreement connects SINGULUS’s solar manufacturing technology with SpaceX’s satellite production operations in Bastrop. The companies plan to expand their manufacturing partnership beyond the initial production line as SpaceX increases its satellite production capacity in Texas.
