Valley of Depth

Space has a power problem. Satellites need more electricity and better protection, yet solar arrays are slow to build and failure-prone, and shielding adds mass and complexity. Atomic-6 is tackling both sides at once.

Our guest this week is Trevor Smith, founder and CEO of Atomic-6. His team is building Light Wing, a redeployable, mass-manufacturable solar array aimed at higher watts per kilogram and faster delivery, and Space Armor, an RF-permeable debris shield designed to stop hypervelocity impacts while preserving comms and resisting directed energy. The company’s first on-orbit hardware is slated for February 2026, and they’re pursuing multi-billion-dollar constellation opportunities alongside a long-term purchase agreement with a private space-station builder.

Inside the episode:

• Why reliability, not just power density, wins satellite programs
• How a space power gigafactory could reset constellation economics
• What “cell-agnostic” really means for supply chain and performance
• The new “radome for space” capability and where it matters for defense
• Cislunar prospects, lunar-orbit data centers, and vertical solar towers
• Lessons from working with Space Force and navigating dual-use funding
• The state of the U.S. industrial base and why solar arrays are a top supply-chain priority

• Chapters •

00:00 – Intro
00:47 – How Atomic-6 got started
03:06 – Building the power grid for space
04:09 – Why is Atomic-6 building what it's building
05:58 – Dollars per watt per kilo
07:18 – Cell agnostic
07:58 – How Trevor got into the space industry
09:14 – Team construction at Atomic-6
09:49 – What type of people is Atomic-6 looking for?
10:35 – Atomic-6's key product offering
10:58 – Current customers and opportunities at Atomic-6
11:38 – Pipeline
13:07 – Manufacturing scaling
14:04 – How much is an operator spending on solar arrays?
15:12 – Who would we go to today for building a satellite array and what would they be missing?
16:33 – Space Armor
19:44 – What is a radome?
20:34 – Whipple Shield deployment
21:11 – Significance of being transparent to radio signals
21:41 – Terrestrial applications for the Whipple Shield
23:24 – How Atomic-6 came to developing the Whipple Shield
24:48 – Opportunity vs Light Wing and Space Armor
25:38 – Defense traction with Space Armor
26:52 – Atomic-6's business model
29:17 – Milestones
30:35 – Vertical integration
32:34 – Other products that Atomic-6 is developing
33:42 – Developments in advanced materials that will define architecture in space
36:18 – What does success look like for Atomic-6 in 5 to 10 years?
36:59 – What keeps Trevor up at night?
38:05 – Government support
40:17 – The legacy Trevor wants Atomic-6 to leave behind

• Show notes •

Atomic-6’s website — https://www.atomic-6.com/

Mo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam

Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace

Ignition’s socials — https://twitter.com/ignitionnuclear /  

https://www.linkedin.com/company/ignition-nuclear/

Tectonic’s socials  — https://twitter.com/tectonicdefense / https://www.linkedin.com/company/tectonicdefense/

Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/

• About us •

Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies that matter — and the people building them. Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload (space), Ignition (nuclear energy), and Tectonic (defense tech), this show goes beyond headlines and hype. We talk to founders, investors, government officials, and military leaders shaping the future of national security and deep tech. From breakthrough science to strategic policy, we dive into the high-stakes decisions behind the world’s hardest technologies.

• Payload: www.payloadspace.com
• Ignition: www.ignition-news.com
• Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com

Satellites are expensive and once launched, mostly untouchable.. That’s the problem Starfish Space is solving. The company is building Otter, a small, autonomous servicing vehicle capable of rendezvousing with, docking to, and moving other satellites in orbit.

On this episode of Valley of Depth, I’m joined by Austin Link, co-founder of Starfish Space. Austin shares how a team of former Blue Origin engineers turned a bold idea into one of the most advanced orbital servicing programs in the world. We trace Starfish’s journey from recovering a tumbling spacecraft spinning 330 degrees per second, to preparing for the first commercial docking of an unprepared satellite in orbit.

We also discuss:

• How Starfish closed the business case for on-orbit servicing
• What it takes to autonomously dock with a satellite moving faster than a bullet
• The economics of life-extension and debris disposal
• Lessons from the Otter Pup missions
• The dual-use future of orbital servicing for defense and resilience
• The long-term vision for a logistics layer in space

…and more.

• Chapters •

00:00 – Intro
00:59 – Starfish's mission
03:02 – Why is now the time to be building on orbit satellite servicing
04:44 – On orbit servicing with the rapid advancement of satellites
07:29 – Why leave Blue Origin to start Starfish?
09:18 – Convincing investors early on
11:22 – Results from Starfish's first few missions
13:40 – Why Starfish has fun with their names
15:43 – How the team de-tumbled the satellite
21:55 – Starfish's upcoming missions
25:37 – When will Starfish start selling their systems?
27:33 – Future business models and commercial vs government split
30:08 – How Starfish helps customers price their ROI
32:26 – Do regulations need to be placed in order for the market to thrive?
35:14 – How Starfish differs from competitors
36:29 – Current size of the satellite servicing market
37:25 – Starfish's key strength
40:19 – Insights on servicing from defense
42:51 – What changes will happen if satellite servicing becomes routine?
44:14 – Starfish's next phase in the business
45:05 – Starfish's North Star
46:19 – Overhyping the Kessler Syndrome
47:41 – What does Austin do besides working on Starfish?

• Show notes •

Starfish’s website — https://www.starfishspace.com/
Mo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam
Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace
Ignition’s socials — https://twitter.com/ignitionnuclear / https://www.linkedin.com/company/ignition-nuclear/
Tectonic’s socials  — https://twitter.com/tectonicdefense / https://www.linkedin.com/company/tectonicdefense/
Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/

• About us •

Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies that matter — and the people building them. Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload (space), Ignition (nuclear energy), and Tectonic (defense tech), this show goes beyond headlines and hype. We talk to founders, investors, government officials, and military leaders shaping the future of national security and deep tech. From breakthrough science to strategic policy, we dive into the high-stakes decisions behind the world’s hardest technologies.

• Payload: www.payloadspace.com
• Ignition: www.ignition-news.com
• Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com

Spacecraft carry all kinds of sensors, but rarely the one humans rely on most: video. Despite offering the richest insight per watt, gram, and dollar, cameras have been largely absent from orbit.That’s what TRL11 is out to change. The company is building radiation-tolerant optics, edge computers that process and compress video in real time, and ground software that turns footage into operational awareness.

On this episode of Valley of Depth, I’m joined by Nicolaas Verheem, founder and CEO of TRL11. Nicolaas shares how his journey from pioneering wireless video at Teradek, work that won both technical Academy and Emmy Awards, led him to ask why space was still flying blind. We trace TRL11’s path from early in-orbit demos to commercial traction with operators and defense, and dig into how edge intelligence and video awareness could transform the space economy.

We also discuss:

• • Why video is the “missing sensor” in space
• • Lessons from TRL11’s first orbital missions
• The three core use cases: health monitoring, mission awareness, and mission enablement
• • How software, not hardware, creates a lasting moat in space video
• • The long-term vision of human-like awareness in space

…and more.

• Chapters •
01:03 – Nicol and Starwars and Startrek
03:10 – Nicol winning an Academy Award and an Emmy
04:14 – Nicol at Teradek
05:13 – How Teradek inspired Nicol's current company TRL11
06:30 – How video applies to the space industry
09:41 – Why do we need video and what problem does it solve?
12:56 – A ring camera for space
17:06 – The story behind the company name
19:32 – TRL11's current product offerings
21:43 – Showing the operator what matters on screen
24:53 – How do you build a space camera?
26:45 – What TRL11 has learned in their early orbit tests
29:06 – TRL11's primary first customers
32:25 – Making the case for investors
36:45 – Should every spacecraft have video onboard?
38:03 – The importance of video for inspiration
40:03 – Misunderstandings when it comes to video from partners, investors, and customers
41:10 – Lessons Nicol learned building a company in the space industry
42:42 – Fundraising at TRL11
44:26 – Legacy and product evolution

• Show notes •

TRL11’s website — https://www.trl11.com/

Mo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam

Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace

Ignition’s socials — https://twitter.com/ignitionnuclear /  

https://www.linkedin.com/company/ignition-nuclear/

Tectonic’s socials — https://twitter.com/tectonicdefense / https://www.linkedin.com/company/tectonicdefense/

Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/

• About us •

Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies that matter — and the people building them. Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload (space), Ignition (nuclear energy), and Tectonic (defense tech), this show goes beyond headlines and hype. We talk to founders, investors, government officials, and military leaders shaping the future of national security and deep tech. From breakthrough science to strategic policy, we dive into the high-stakes decisions behind the world’s hardest technologies.

•  Payload: www.payloadspace.com 
• Ignition: www.ignition-news.com
• Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com

Smallsats have defined the last decade of space, but their limitations are clear: low power, limited throughput, and fragile unit economics. K2 Space is betting on the opposite. The company is building mega class and giga class satellites, platforms measured in tons rather than kilograms, that deliver unprecedented power, capacity, and resilience. By vertically integrating 80 percent of their systems in house, K2 is cutting costs by an order of magnitude and making industrial scale spacecraft a reality.

On this episode of Valley of Depth, we’re joined by Neel Kunjur, cofounder and CTO of K2 Space. Neel traces the journey from early Slack messages about the promise of MEO to a 160 person team building the largest commercial satellites ever attempted. He shares how K2 has reimagined subsystems like reaction wheels, high voltage power, and 20 kW propulsion to unlock entirely new mission architectures in MEO, GEO, and beyond.

We also discuss:

• Why MEO is such an underexplored orbital regime
• The engineering breakthroughs behind large reaction wheels and high voltage power systems
• How stackable satellites change constellation design
• The long term vision for space infrastructure, from in space compute to energy harvesting

…and more.

• Chapters •

00:00 – Intro
00:56 – What's happened in the past two years since K2 has been on the pod
02:13 – The thesis behind K2
03:51 – What does Neel mean by aperture?
04:40 – Why do satellites need to grow in size and power?
06:59 – The rise in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) chatter
08:49 – Why did Neel leave SpaceX and start K2 with his brother?
12:04 – Building K2 for a post Starship world
14:10 – Current and future K2 offerings
15:32 – 20 Kilowatts vs a small LEO satellite
17:10 – Giga-scale satellite
18:40 – How K2 is able to deliver $15m satellite
21:13 – K2's innovations so far
23:01 – Engineering problems that larger satellite builders have to worry about
25:08 – K2's propulsion solution to get MEO
28:11 – Engineering for Starship's current MEO blindspot
29:18 – Neel's prediction on Starship's refueling rollout
30:14 – Innovation through simplicity
33:24 – How is K2 hiring the talent for their niche challenges
35:52 – How big is K2's team today
36:43 – Key takeaways from K2's first mission
38:22 – Mission Gravitas
39:59 – Orbit race
40:39 – Mission Gravitas: Commercial or DoD?
41:33 – K2's scaling plans
43:03 – Customized vs standardized
45:17 – Overspec'd by design
45:40 – Will K2's success spur more competition?
47:23 – Will satellites become robust, industrial hardware?
48:48 – What's enabled by these large platforms?
51:01 – The paradigm shift happening in engineering for space
52:42 – Will SpaceX own LEO?
55:05 – The name and branding behind K2

• Show notes •

K2’s website — http://www.k2space.com/

K2’s socials — https://x.com/K2SpaceCo

Mo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam

Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace

Ignition’s socials — https://twitter.com/ignitionnuclear /  

https://www.linkedin.com/company/ignition-nuclear/

Tectonic’s socials  — https://twitter.com/tectonicdefense / https://www.linkedin.com/company/tectonicdefense/

Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/

• About us •

Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies that matter — and the people building them. Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload (space), Ignition (nuclear energy), and Tectonic (defense tech), this show goes beyond headlines and hype. We talk to founders, investors, government officials, and military leaders shaping the future of national security and deep tech. From breakthrough science to strategic policy, we dive into the high-stakes decisions behind the world’s hardest technologies.

• Payload: www.payloadspace.com
• Ignition: www.ignition-news.com
• Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com