Solestial, Inc. (“Solestial”) and Atomos Space (“Atomos”) have engaged in a multi-mission, sales agreement for a minimum of 20 kilowatts (“kW”) of Solestial’s ultrathin, low-mass, radiation-hardened solar blankets.
Solestial’s photovoltaic system will be demo’d on Atomos’s first mission, scheduled for February of 2024, and then will provide primary power for Atomos’s solar-electric, orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) on two, subsequent, commercial missions, starting in late 2024.
Both companies are 2019 Techstars accelerator alumni and the partnership will allow both Solestial and Atomos to further their goals through close collaboration over the coming years.
Atomos is developing high-power OTVs to provide a range of in-space transportation services to satellite operators. The use of high-power electric propulsion, enabled by Solestial’s technology, allows Atomos to perform challenging missions with unprecedented speed. After the initial demonstration, the following blanket shipsets from Solestial will power two OTVs providing deployment services to constellation operators in LEO and relocation services to operators in other orbits, respectively.
The agreement with Atomos signals the beginning of a new phase for Solestial, as the company begins to scale commercial commitments and delivery in parallel with completing technical testing. In May, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) independently validated the ability of Solestial’s ultrathin, silicon solar cells to effectively anneal radiation damage under sunlight at 90°C. Solestial solar blankets are proving to be an affordable, scalable alternative to traditional space photovoltaics, ready for design-in to missions being planned today.
“Solestial is an important partner for us. It was clear that traditional space solar was too expensive and too supply-constrained to support our high-power OTV design. We were attracted to Solestial’s solution as they provided the best combination of solar array specific mass performance, radiation hardness, and affordability available on the market today.” — Vanessa Clark, Co-Founder and CEO, Atomos
“We are inspired by Atomos’s mission and humbled by their confidence in us. It’s an exciting time in the space industry and we’re excited to be in a position to power groundbreaking, innovative missions like these.” — Stan Herasimenka, Co-Founder and CEO, Solestial
