Starlab secures payload reservation from Elethron
Starlab Space LLC, the commercial space station developer, has announced a payload reservation from Elethron, a Houston-based materials and process engineering company developing crystalline materials for semiconductor applications.
Elethron says the reservation will enable it develop a pathway to demonstrate and operate its autonomous ĀTAR in-space materials-processing platform to develop materials for power electronics, RF systems, integrated photonics, sensing and extreme-environment electronics.
By operating ĀTAR aboard Starlab, Elethron will be able to conduct materials-processing activities during the six-month pilot, generating process data and operational experience that may inform future materials-processing efforts toward downstream qualification and integration.
The modular architecture uses interchangeable Smart Cartridges, allowing the platform to support different materials processes and customers without requiring a complete payload redesign between campaigns. Starlab will provide infrastructure as Elethron expands ĀTAR’s deployment in LEO.
“Microgravity has shown considerable potential in reducing defect formation and improving compositional uniformity as a crystal forms,” said Nick Bailey, technical director and co-founder of Elethron. “These are among the primary factors for achieving higher electronic and optical performance in next-generation semiconductor materials and devices, and ĀTAR allows us to extend our work on these materials into microgravity.”
“Advanced semiconductor materials are foundational in developing next generation electronics in space and terrestrial systems,” said Jonathan Volk, Starlab's director of advanced materials applications and director of growth for Voyager Technologies' VISTA Space Park. “Elethron’s ĀTAR platform demonstrates how Starlab can support the transition from materials research in microgravity to repeatable processing capabilities in orbit.”
