WASHINGTON — Startup Portal Space Systems, founded by a former SpaceX and Amazon executive, has unveiled plans for spacecraft that use a novel propulsion technology designed to enable rapid movement between orbits.
The company formally exited stealth mode April 30, announcing that it had secured more than $3 million in awards from the Defense Department. That funding, as well as separate, undisclosed private investment, will support development of a spacecraft bus called Supernova.
What distinguishes Supernova is its solar thermal propulsion system, which uses solar energy to heat a propellant and generate thrust. Portal says that system can provide a delta-V, or change in velocity, of six kilometers per second with high thrust, enabling the spacecraft to move from low Earth orbit to geostationary orbit in a matter of hours, or from LEO to cislunar space in days.
“I saw the need for mobility solutions that didn’t exist for both commercial and military applications,” said Jeff Thornburg, chief executive and founder of Portal, in an interview. He cited the military’s interest in particular in dynamic space operations and “maneuver without regret,” or the ability to move spacecraft as needed without worrying about reducing its lifetime.
Thornburg founded Portal Space Systems in 2021 with Ian Vorbach, the company’s chief operating officer, and Prashaanth Ravindran, vice president of engineering, after working as head of mechanical engineering and manufacturing for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband constellation. Earlier in his career he was senior director of propulsion at SpaceX, serving as architect of the Raptor engine used on the Starship vehicle.
He said the company spent the first two and a half years talking with prospective commercial and national security customers to better understand their needs. “I’m a firm believer that the number one problem with small space businesses now is that they break away from other…
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