Startup’s Retractable Solar Arrays Could Aid Orbital Servicing
Light Wing retractable solar array
ARLINGTON, Virginia — Georgia-based startup Atomic-6 recently won a $2 million Space Force contract to mature and flight qualify its Light Wing retractable solar array technology that could not only power satellites but also enable on-orbit servicing.
The ability to repair or refuel spacecraft on orbit is a major focus for the Space Force and other government agencies. A Government Accountability Office report published in July found that the Defense Department and NASA have spent over $2 billion developing in-space servicing demonstration missions over the past decade.
The retractability of Atomic-6’s Light Wing solar arrays “really opens up” the ability to conduct rendezvous, proximity operations and docking maneuvers, such as approaching another spacecraft, said the company’s founder and CEO Trevor Smith.
For example, “if you need to dock [to] service, refuel, all those things, retractability comes into play,” Smith said in an interview. Or “if you want to maneuver through high debris areas … you can retract your arrays, get through that debris-filled area, minimizing that impact risk, and then redeploy.”
There are many different concepts of operations that open up — particularly for the Defense Department — because the rendezvous, proximity operations and docking mission set is going to be critical for military operators, he said.
Light Wing also delivers over four times more power per kilogram than existing arrays, according to an Atomic-6 release. That “opens up a lot of new things” for potential customers, such as loading additional fuel or sensors onto the spacecraft, Smith said.
The “sole purpose” of the Space Force contract is to get Light Wing “through flight qualification,” he said. The system will go through composite coupon testing, cell compatibility demonstration and thermal vacuum and vibe testing, “all the tests that are necessary for flight” to prove it can survive launch and operate in space.
A smaller version is scheduled for its first flight on a commercial mission in February 2026. Additionally, Light Wing was selected in June for a mission led by Sidus Space and Lonestar Data Holdings to “put data centers in lunar orbit” starting in early 2027, Smith said.
“We’ve crossed the valley of death,” he said. “This thing’s actually going to fly in space, and we’ve leveraged” government funding such as the Space Force contract “to get us to that point.”
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