Horizon Microtechnologies has secured roughly €500,000 for a two-year project intended to industrialise metallised polymer satellite parts made by micro-additive manufacturing. TCT reports that the programme will develop repeatability, quality assurance and higher-volume production; a future example is up to 50,000 shielding housings for a satellite constellation. That is a target, not delivered volume.

Connecting micron-scale geometry with metal function

Horizon creates complex geometry through high-resolution polymer micro-AM and then applies a conductive metal layer. A lightweight polymer core can therefore gain electromagnetic shielding, conductivity or an RF surface. Candidate applications include electronics housings, waveguides and antenna elements whose small internal channels are expensive or difficult to machine.

Industrialisation is not only about print resolution. Coating must have controlled thickness, adhesion and continuity on every critical surface; the polymer must remain usable under vacuum, radiation, thermal cycling and atomic oxygen. A detailed demonstration part is not the same thing as space-qualified hardware.

What has the company tested?

Horizon's space-qualification white paper uses shielding housings and waveguides as demonstrators. Its campaign describes outgassing, 500 hours of 85/85 heat-humidity exposure, mechanical shock above 40 g and fatigue, radiation, 2,000 cycles between –40 and +125 °C, and atomic-oxygen simulation. It references methods adapted to ECSS requirements, but remains a company white paper rather than an independent certification report or automatic qualification of every product.

Scale introduces different failure modes

Between fifty demonstrators and fifty thousand products, fixturing, cleaning, activation, plating, thickness measurement and traceability become decisive. Small deviations can block a microchannel, detune an RF geometry or leave a local coating void. Meaningful project metrics will therefore include process capability, scrap and rework, variation in electrical and RF performance, and complete lot traceability.

Practical conclusion

The programme targets a useful gap: solid metal can be unnecessarily heavy, while bare polymer lacks electrical function. Repeatable metallised micro-AM could offer real production value for lightweight, complex satellite components. A buyer should request a geometry-, material- and coating-specific test matrix, measurement uncertainty and lot-release rule rather than relying on a general space-ready label.

Sources and transparency

Funding amount, two-year duration and industrialisation objective are reported by TCT on 15 October 2026. Technology and environmental-test details come from Horizon's primary company white paper. We did not locate a public funding decision or project record, so the financial figure is explicitly attributed to TCT.