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EMCORE's Record Efficiency Solar Cells Released to Earth Orbit in the Final Space Shuttle Mission

Date Announced: 29 Jul 2011

Atlantis Releases EMCORE's Greater Than 33% Efficiency Solar Cells Into Low-Earth Orbit.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM--(Marketwire -07/29/11)- EMCORE Corporation (NASDAQ: EMKR - News), a leading provider of compound semiconductor-based components and subsystems for the fiber optic and solar power markets, announced today that a pair of EMCORE Inverted Metamorphic Module Quadruple-Junction (IMM4J) solar cells carried on a platform were released into low-earth orbit (LEO) from the Space Shuttle Atlantis' cargo bay on July 20, 2011 after Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station during its historic final mission.

The EMCORE IMM4J large-area solar cells, with solar-to-electric conversion efficiencies in excess of 33%, are amongst the highest efficiency solar cells ever launched into space. The IMM4J solar cell technology, which is currently under development at EMCORE, has also demonstrated a laboratory world record conversion efficiency of greater than 36%, measured under simulated space solar illumination conditions at EMCORE.

"The on-orbit data from these cells provides an invaluable opportunity for EMCORE to assess the performance of our latest solar cell technologies under space flight conditions," said Christopher Larocca, Chief Operating Officer of EMCORE. "We are also very proud to make a contribution to the final mission of the Space Shuttle program."

EMCORE is the world's largest manufacturer of highly efficient radiation-hard solar cells for space power applications. With a beginning-of-life (BOL) conversion efficiency in the order of 30% and the option for a patented, onboard monolithic bypass diode, EMCORE's industry leading multi-junction solar cells can provide the highest available power to interplanetary spacecrafts and earth orbiting satellites.

Source: Emcore

Contact

Mark Weinswig
Chief Financial Officer
(505) 332-5000

E-mail: investor@emcore.com

Web Site: www.emcore.com

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