Bothell, Wash.-based Portal Space Systems has added another spacecraft to its product line: a rapid-maneuverability vehicle called Starburst, which takes advantage of technologies that are being developed for its more powerful Supernova satellite platform.
Starburst-1 is due to star in Portal’s first free-flying space mission with live payloads a year from now, starting with a launch on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 satellite rideshare mission. Portal says the mission will demonstrate rendezvous and proximity operations, rapid retasking and rapid orbital change for national security and commercial applications.
Starburst is designed to bring maneuverability to missions that rely on constellations of small satellites, an approach known as proliferated space architecture. Such an approach is already being used for commercial constellations including SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper, and the concept is also gaining traction for national security applications.
Portal says Starburst and the larger Supernova platform will share many manufacturing processes and core systems, including the thrusters being developed for Supernova’s reaction control system. Like Supernova, Starburst will use heated ammonia as a propellant.
