Power, Meet Shield, with Trevor Smith (CEO of Atomic-6)

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