{"id":17114,"date":"2025-06-17T21:09:03","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T13:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/portal-space-systems-plans-to-put-spacecraft-manufacturing-facility-near-seattle-area-hub\/"},"modified":"2025-06-17T21:09:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T13:09:03","slug":"portal-space-systems-plans-to-put-spacecraft-manufacturing-facility-near-seattle-area-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/portal-space-systems-plans-to-put-spacecraft-manufacturing-facility-near-seattle-area-hub\/","title":{"rendered":"Portal Space Systems plans to put spacecraft manufacturing facility near Seattle-area hub"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/250617-portal1-630x392.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-877763\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/250617-portal1-630x392.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/250617-portal1-768x478.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/250617-portal1.jpg 1233w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">Portal CEO Jeff Thornburg says the company is expanding its footprint in Bothell, Wash. (Portal Space Systems Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Portal Space Systems says it\u2019s setting up its 50,000-square-foot spacecraft manufacturing facility just 3 miles away from its existing design and testing hub in Bothell, Wash.<\/p>\n<p>By the end of 2026, the factory should be ready to produce Portal\u2019s Supernova space vehicles, which are being designed to use an innovative solar thermal propulsion system to maneuver payloads between orbital locations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith growing demand from both our commercial and defense partners, this new facility marks the next strategic step in Portal\u2019s evolution,\u201d Portal CEO Jeff Thornburg said today, in a news release that was issued in conjunction with the Paris Air Show. \u201cBy expanding our footprint in Bothell, we\u2019re doubling down on local talent, proximity to core operations, and a growing aerospace ecosystem supported by state leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s announcement builds on other recent signs of Portal\u2019s progress, including the closing of a $17.5 million seed funding round and the announcement of an on-orbit demonstration mission that\u2019s due to ride aboard Momentus\u2019 Vigoride 7 orbital service vehicle in 2026.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Portal Space Systems aims for 2026 launch of versatile 'Supernova' spacecraft\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FUfew_MX-so?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Portal said the newly announced facility will become the principal site for activities including manufacturing, assembly, integration and testing, research and development, and advanced engineering. The facility is expected to add more than 100 new jobs in the region over the next two to three years. By 2027, Portal plans to produce one Supernova per month.<\/p>\n<p>Supernova\u2019s sun-powered propulsion system is meant to provide the capability for rapid orbital adjustments. That capability is becoming increasingly important for a couple of reasons. One reason has to do with the need for more responsive space traffic management, due to the growing number of commercial satellites in low Earth orbit. The other has to do with the Pentagon\u2019s need to respond rapidly to potential space-based threats from rivals such as China and Russia.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Portal won $45 million in financial support for Supernova\u2019s development through SpaceWERX\u2019s STRATFI program \u2014 a public-private initiative aimed at facilitating the delivery of strategic capabilities for the U.S. Space Force.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Portal CEO Jeff Thornburg says the company is expanding its footprint in Bothell, Wash. (Portal Space Systems Photo) Portal Space Systems says it\u2019s setting up its 50,000-square-foot spacecraft manufacturing facility just 3 miles away from its existing design and testing hub in Bothell, Wash. By the end of 2026, the factory should be ready to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4363,642,4329],"class_list":["post-17114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-bothell","tag-portal-space-systems","tag-startups"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17114"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}