Portal Space Systems has selected Atomic-6's Space Armor, a protective material for spacecraft, for its Starburst-1 mission scheduled for October 2026. This deployment will be the first in-orbit test for Space Armor, which is designed to shield spacecraft from micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) impacts.
Technology Overview
Atomic-6's Space Armor is positioned as an alternative to traditional Whipple-style metallic shielding, which has been a standard for debris protection. The company states that its advanced composite material offers reduced mass and improved performance compared to metallic shields.
The protective system consists of hexagonal tiles, approximately three-quarters of an inch thick, designed for attachment to spacecraft surfaces. According to Atomic-6, Space Armor Lite tiles are about 30% lighter and 15% thinner than Whipple aluminum shields. This design aims to support sustained maneuverability and longer operational time for satellites by minimizing added mass.
Mission and Testing
The Space Armor tiles will be integrated into Portal's Starburst-1 satellite, which is set to launch via SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare mission. Starburst-1 is Portal's initial on-orbit demonstration, intended to validate its long-endurance satellite architecture, including capabilities such as rendezvous, proximity operations, rapid orbital changes, and retasking.
Ground-based hypervelocity impact tests were conducted at the University of Dayton Research Institute and Texas A&M University. These tests involved firing 3-millimeter aluminum projectiles at speeds exceeding 7 kilometers per second. The results indicated that the tiles are fragmentation resistant, meaning they absorb and contain impacts rather than producing secondary debris that could threaten other satellites.