Washington’s space industry is expanding again, with a Bothell-based company preparing to test key spacecraft technology in orbit as soon as this month.
Portal Space Systems has set up operations in Snohomish County, citing Washington’s workforce as a major reason for putting down roots. The company, led by CEO Jeff Thornburg, is developing two space vehicles it says are designed to move items quickly through space.
“We’re providing a unique spacecraft that doesn’t exist that can do things that a lot of our customers wish they could’ve done five or ten years ago,” Thornburg said.
About four years ago, Thornburg and his co-founders began building a spacecraft in his garage called the Supernova. The company describes Supernova as a space transport vehicle designed to carry items in space and move quickly around orbits between the Earth and the moon.
In November, Portal Space Systems decided to make a smaller version of Supernova called Starburst, designed to operate within a single orbit.
“It was really about us trying to be super responsive to our defense customers that specifically need capability on orbit as fast as possible,” Thornburg said.
The company is building both vehicles in western Washington and is expanding its footprint. Portal Space Systems is working out of a 6,000-square-foot facility and has leased an additional 5,200-square-foot manufacturing space to ramp up production.
“We’re going to build 12 Supernova and 16 Starburst spacecraft a year in that facility as we bring it up to speed, so it will be a gradual process through next year and early 27 as we close 27 into 28 … we’ll be manufacturing at full capacity and serving our customers needs, again growing beyond 100-plus people headed towards 200 as we bring that facility online,” Thornburg said.
To prepare for future launches, Portal Space Systems is beginning a space test this month using a payload it calls “mini-nova.”
“We have a payload we call mini-nova, which is the brains of all of our spacecraft. It has a lot of critical sensors and features that we want to test on orbit as fast as possible,” Thornburg said.
The mini-nova payload is set to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket on March 29 and will spend six months in space testing critical systems. The first Starburst is expected to launch in October, and Supernova is scheduled to launch in 2027.
Portal Space Systems also received $350,000 from the Governor’s Strategic Reserve Fund. The company plans to use the money to accelerate its manufacturing facility, which it expects to have ready by this summer.