Atomic-6 has confirmed the first spaceflight of its Space Armor technology, marking a major milestone achieved in collaboration with Portal Space Systems. The mission underscores a strategic partnership driven by industry networks, with the initial engagement facilitated through the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) Space Stream and supported by Commander Chris Hadfield, highlighting the role of accelerator ecosystems in translating advanced composite technologies from development to on-orbit validation.
Atomic-6's Space Armor tile system will fly to space for the first time in October on SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare mission, with the goal of protecting its first paying customer: Portal Space Systems' Starburst-1 satellite.
It's rare for space operators to hope a satellite gets hit with a piece of space debris, but that's exactly what Atomic-6 CEO Trevor Smith is doing. Smith told Payload that he hopes the tile's first test in space will show companies that they have options for additional protection in orbit, especially as debris takes out high-profile missions. "I hope [Portal Space CEO Jeff Thornburg] gets hit in just the right spot," Smith said. "We won't see the impact because it's so fast, but we will see a hole in it afterwards. Between the camera and the telemetry, we should be able to confirm it gets hit and nothing bad has happened."
Space Armor 101: the GA-based startup's hexagon-shaped tiles designed to protect space assets come in two levels: Light, designed to protect from micrometeoroids and debris 3mm or smaller (what will fly on the mission with Portal), and Max, expected to protect space assets from particles up to 12.5mm and designed for human-rated systems.
Smith isn't urging companies to cover their entire spacecraft with the tiles. Instead, operators should think about protecting the systems critical to keeping the satellite running, such as avionics and the fuel tank.
"I presented this to 19 underwriters for Lloyd's of London," Smith said. "Once this is flight-qualified, they're interested in offering a discount on the premium [if a spacecraft is protected by Space Armor] because it cuts the risk." If a piece of debris hits aluminum, it creates secondary debris, making popular orbits more dangerous; Space Armor is designed to create no secondary debris when hit. "We would love to implement this into astronaut suits," Smith said. "It's not huge revenue, but it is a really big thing we think we can help with, making them more lightweight, and more robust, to types of impacts you can't track today."
Source: payloadspace.com
