Supernova (Solar Thermal Spacecraft)
Portal Space Systems
Maneuverable solar-thermal spacecraft delivering 6 km/s delta-v across LEO to cislunar space, taskable in minutes, with <24h payload swap capability.
Technical specifications
- Propulsion type
- Solar Thermal Propulsion (STP)
- Propellant
- Safe, storable monopropellant
- Delta-v
- 6 km/s total
- Taskability
- On-standby, taskable in minutes
- Payload swap
- <24 hours
- Orbital range
- LEO to cislunar space and back
- Lifetime
- Multi-year
- Thruster
- HEX Thruster (3D-printed, integral heat exchanger + nozzle, no moving parts)
- Funding
- $50M Series A (2026)
- Status
- In development
About
Supernova is Portal Space Systems’ flagship spacecraft, built around Solar Thermal Propulsion (STP) to address the fundamental gap between static satellite operations and the dynamic demands of modern space: chemical propulsion cannot sustain maneuver, and electric propulsion lacks the speed for rapid response.
Supernova concentrates sunlight via deployable and re-stowable mirror arrays onto a compact thermal receiver, generating heat comparable to a compact nuclear reactor. This energy charges a thermal battery and drives the proprietary HEX Thruster — a 3D-printed single-body component combining the heat exchanger and nozzle with no internal interfaces or moving parts — using a safe, storable monopropellant. The result is 6 km/s of total delta-v, on-standby response in minutes, payload swap in under 24 hours, and a multi-year operational life spanning LEO to cislunar.
Applications include national security (rapid response, space domain awareness, cislunar logistics), science and exploration (low-cost lunar insertion, orbital repositioning), and commercial operations (constellation maintenance, life extension, precision debris mitigation). Portal has launched the first commercially structured debris removal infrastructure in partnership with Paladin Space, with Starlab as an early partner.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.