Optimax Launches Dedicated Space Systems Business

Photonics Spectra
Oct 2024Rochester-based optics manufacturer Optimax is launching Starris: Optimax Space Systems, a business operating under the Optimax corporate structure. Starris will focus on the development of space-qualified optical payloads, enabling customers to enter space economy quickly and with low risk, the parent company said today in an announcement. Optimax said that Starris will develop payloads from idea to launch-ready status in less than one year, for earth observing, space infrastructure, resource exploitation, space manufacturing, and defense.

Starris, Optimax’s space-focused business, is developing modular systems for rapid deployment, promising deployment-ready solutions within a year of idea conception. The company is targeting a broad range of applications in the emerging space economy. Courtesy of Optimax.

“The global space economy is at an inflection point, poised to nearly triple by 2025, reaching a staggering $1.8 trillion,” said Joe Spilman, CEO of Optimax. “To accelerate our pace, the industry must shift to a new norm where risk, cost, and time to orbit are significantly minimized.”

The official launch of the unit will be Aug. 5 at the Small Satellite Conference in Utah, Optimax said. Per its announcement, Optimax has named Kevin Kearney director and CTO of Starris.

Starris is powered by 30 years of space-qualified and precision optics from the parent company, which have enabled a variety of space-flight missions including NASA Mars Rovers and commercial space ventures. The business will support the integration of space-rated optics, sensors, and electronics into digital cameras and instruments using pre-engineered modular systems, tailored for aggressive design cycles and rapid deployment. Development will be bolstered by Optimax’s existing testing and manufacturing ecosystem which supports the transition from prototype to production, and radiation-tolerant design for temperature, vacuum, shock, and vibration.

Additionally, Starris technology features collaborations with space-rated suppliers, including sensors by Teledyne Space Imaging, with which Starris has separately partnered to develop space cameras for small satellites and lunar missions. This collaboration will focus on applications that include earth observation, space navigation, in-orbit servicing, in-situ resource utilization, in-orbit manufacturing, and space domain awareness.

In 2022, Optimax fabricated and tested dispersive optical components for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in collaboration with Jenoptik and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The telescope is expected to launch by May 2027.

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