Advanced Materials for Space
Zarqalis engineers metastable materials and sputtering targets for electric propulsion and the most unforgiving environments humans send hardware into.
Why materials
In orbit there is no maintenance window. Hardware faces vacuum, radiation, thermal cycling, vibration and erosion — for years, alone. Every mission begins with a material that refuses to give up.
01 — The constraint
Most sputtering systems need a continuous supply of process gas — and with it tanks, regulators, valves and feed lines. In space, every one of them costs mass, volume and risk.
Zarqalis targets are designed to sustain target-derived sputtering in vacuum with reduced or no continuous gas feed: a compact solid source in place of a plumbing system.
02 — The science
A metastable material stores energy in a non-equilibrium structure. The hard part is not creating that state; it is keeping it, pulse after pulse, in vacuum. Our own selection method balances what most approaches ignore.
Illustrative model, not experimental data.
Energy locked into the structure, available to drive sputtering.
The ability to retain a non-equilibrium state across repeated pulses.
Ion yield and erosion profile matched to each pulse regime.
Material families that can actually be made — at sample and at full scale.
Engineered against
03 — Simulation first
Our in-house simulation platform, built on COMSOL and our own apps, links material selection with pulsed sputtering and ion extraction. Candidates are screened virtually before anything is manufactured — less development time, less risk.
Live visual of an ion-extraction model. Illustrative.
04 — Portfolio
Three metastable target families, first as small validation samples and then as full-size targets — tailored to each pulse regime, power level and mission duration.
Virtual prototypes, material screening and operating maps for propulsion and sputtering teams, with exportable technical summaries.
Coatings and tailored surfaces for spacecraft components exposed to vacuum, thermal cycling, erosion and corrosion.
The same metastable expertise opens technology-transfer routes into nuclear and other demanding terrestrial applications.
05 — Where it flies
Electric propulsion now serves satellites in every orbit, space tugs and exploration missions. Zarqalis works with propulsion developers, coating companies and space-component manufacturers to make those systems lighter, simpler and longer-lived.
06 — Roadmap
Zarqalis Materials founded in Seville, Andalusia.
Metastability, pulsed sputtering, plasma and ion-extraction models in one validated workflow.
First targets from three metastable families, characterised under repeated pulses in vacuum.
Best-performing combinations tested with propulsion developers and coating partners.
Repeat production and long-term supply for propulsion and space-component makers.
Protective coatings and surface solutions for critical space systems.
07 — The name
In eleventh-century Toledo, Al-Zarqālī combined careful observation, mathematics and practical engineering. He compiled the Toledan Tables and built the Azafea — a universal astrolabe that worked at any latitude.
His knack for turning knowledge into useful technology is the company we want to be: rooted in Andalusia, open to the world, willing to challenge established solutions.
Scientific heritage, observation and precision.
Movement beyond terrestrial limits.
Quantum materials embedded in the name.
Measurement, direction and controlled energy.
Contact
Propulsion developers, coating companies, space-component manufacturers and research teams: let’s talk about the material your mission needs.
Write to us info@zarqalis.com ↗Seville · Andalusia · Spain
