A developer of semiconductor lasers, Intense Ltd. of Glasgow, UK, has signed a contract with the Paris-based European Space Agency to develop high-power, efficient laser diode arrays for solid-state laser pumping applications in space. The focus of the program, called PULSAR (pump laser stacks with aerospace reliability), is to enhance the effectiveness of the stacks at the 808-nm wavelength. The arrays will target a power of 1.2 kW under pulsed operation with an electro-optical conversion efficiency of 65 percent. The increased efficiency will enable power savings aboard space vehicles and will reduce heat-removal requirements.