Portal Space Systems has purchased Atomic-6's recently introduced Space Armor tiles to shield mission critical subsystems from potentially mission ending debris impacts. During the mission, Portal will validate installation procedures, evaluate on orbit performance and refine integration best practices so the protection approach can be applied across future spacecraft designs.
"Portal is pushing the boundaries of what's possible in orbit, and they need protection that keeps up with their ambitions," said Atomic-6 CEO Trevor Smith. "These flights move Space Armor tiles from operational testing to real commercial use, and they demonstrate how quickly the industry can adopt better ways to survive in the harshest, most debris-filled operating environment while simultaneously helping to reduce the risk of Kessler syndrome."
Portal Space Systems CEO Jeff Thornburg said maintaining long term maneuverability is central to the company's spacecraft offering and depends on protecting key systems without sacrificing performance. "Our customers rely on Portal spacecraft to remain maneuverable over extended mission timelines," said Jeff Thornburg, CEO of Portal Space Systems. "That means protecting critical systems in a way that supports, rather than limits, on-orbit performance. By incorporating Atomic-6's Space Armor tiles into our spacecraft, we're expanding our ability to offer customers sustained maneuverability and longer operational time on orbit. We're pleased to have Atomic-6 as part of the Starburst-1 mission."
Atomic-6 and Portal frame the mission within the broader challenge of micrometeoroid and orbital debris, noting that spacecraft routinely encounter millions of untrackable particles traveling faster than 7 kilometers per second, or about 16,000 miles per hour. At those velocities, even debris fragments only a few millimeters in size can puncture propellant tanks, damage batteries or disable sensitive electronics, creating serious risks for spacecraft survival and for the wider orbital environment.
Traditional MMOD mitigation options, such as metallic Whipple shields, can increase spacecraft mass, obstruct radio frequency paths and generate large amounts of secondary debris when struck. Atomic-6 positions Space Armor as a next generation shielding material designed to counter these drawbacks while maintaining or improving mission performance.
The company describes Space Armor tiles as fragmentation resistant, able to stop incoming debris without producing harmful secondary ejecta. The tiles are lighter and thinner than many conventional Whipple shield configurations, and are engineered to be RF permeable to support mission critical communications links that must pass through the spacecraft skin. Atomic-6 also emphasizes ease of installation so the tiles can support scalable and modular spacecraft architectures.
In a side by side demonstration against aluminum shielding, Space Armor tiles successfully stopped a projectile traveling faster than 7 kilometers per second while generating virtually no secondary fragments. Comparable aluminum panels produced debris fragments larger than the original projectile, increasing potential hazards for the host spacecraft and for nearby satellites sharing the same orbital region.
Atomic-6 offers Space Armor in two main configurations, each available in RF permeable or RF blocking variants. Space Armor Lite is rated to withstand impacts up to 3 millimeters in size, a regime that includes all untrackable debris and more than 90 percent of the debris population in low Earth orbit. Space Armor Max is designed to handle impacts up to 12.5 millimeters and carries a rating suitable for protecting human space station platforms.
Both Space Armor configurations are designed to minimize shielding mass, stowage volume, post impact ejecta and overall mission risk compared with traditional MMOD solutions. The intent is to give satellite manufacturers and operators flexible options for tailoring protection levels to specific mission profiles and threat environments without incurring excessive mass penalties.
Atomic-6 says Space Armor Lite tiles are available now and that the company is actively accepting requests for quotes from prospective customers. The firm is using the Portal mission as a showcase to broaden market adoption for Space Armor in commercial, civil and national security space programs.
Beyond debris protection, Atomic-6 is developing a portfolio of advanced spacecraft structures and power solutions, including its Light Wing solar array technology aimed at delivering higher performance for military, government and commercial missions. The company focuses on proprietary composite manufacturing processes that optimize fiber to resin ratios, reduce porosity and shorten production cycle times for aerospace, hypersonic and defense applications.
Portal Space Systems positions itself as a next generation spacecraft provider specializing in highly maneuverable, reconfigurable platforms for defense, civil and commercial customers. Its Starburst and Supernova vehicles are designed to operate across and between multiple orbital regimes, enabling responsive mobility for a range of missions. The company emerged from stealth in 2024, secured STRATFI support, raised a large seed funding round in the space sector and was named a Via Satellite "Top 10 Startup to Watch."
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