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Everspin Technologies announced that its 64Mb STT-MRAM has been selected by Astro Digital for an upcoming Raven Bus Geosynchronous Earth Orbit satellite mission. This strategic partnership highlights MRAM's reliability, speed, and radiation resistance in demanding space environments.
Everspin Technologies announced that its 64Mb STT-MRAM has been selected by Astro Digital for an upcoming Raven Bus Geosynchronous Earth Orbit satellite mission. This strategic partnership highlights MRAM's reliability, speed, and radiation resistance in demanding space enviro...
August 3, 2026 — Space microelectronics reached a major benchmark today as Everspin Technologies, Inc. confirmed that Astro Digital selected its 64Mb Spin-Transfer Torque Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (STT-MRAM) for the upcoming Raven Bus Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) mission. This partnership reflects a fundamental shift across the aerospace sector: transitioning from legacy, charge-based memory architectures toward radiation-hardened, non-volatile magnetic storage capable of enduring deep-space conditions without performance degradation.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Raven Bus GEO Architecture |
| |
| +-------------------+ QSPI Bus +-----------------------+ |
| | System Control | <----------------> | Everspin PERSYST | |
| | & FPGA Board | | 64Mb STT-MRAM | |
| +-------------------+ +-----------------------+ |
| | | |
| v v |
| [System Boot Process] [Telemetry & Logs] |
| - Primary Fail-Safe Engine - Zero-Power Persistence |
| - Instant Initialization - High-Endurance Writes |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Core Takeaway: The integration of Everspin's PERSYST 64Mb STT-MRAM (specifically model EM064LXAQDG13IS1T) into Astro Digital's Raven Bus architecture provides a fail-safe boot engine, preserving execution code, telemetry log data, and system recovery vectors in high-radiation orbital environments.
Spacecraft operating in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit demand instant recovery capabilities and absolute data persistence. Traditional boot memories like NOR Flash introduce long write delays, susceptibility to single-event upsets (SEUs), and severe write-endurance limitations. By integrating Everspin’s PERSYST STT-MRAM into the Raven bus, Astro Digital guarantees that critical system software remains available even after total power loss or sudden radiation bursts.
"Everspin's leadership in MRAM builds on advancing memory technology to address real-world engineering challenges," stated Sanjeev Aggarwal, President and CEO of Everspin Technologies. "Astro Digital's selection of PERSYST shows how that innovation works in satellite applications with demanding requirements for boot, recovery, telemetry logging, and data retention."
Billy Wahng, Chief Technology Officer of Astro Digital, emphasized the operational necessity of this hardware selection: "For this Raven bus application, Everspin's 64Mb STT-MRAM was selected to support primary fail-safe memory for the system boot process. Its non-volatility, endurance, and fast access align directly with the criteria we evaluate for critical spacecraft functions in GEO satellite systems."
This decision leverages Everspin's PERSYST portfolio—a architecture backed by more than 16 years of field and space deployments across industrial, defense, and orbital systems.
Definition: Spin-Transfer Torque MRAM (STT-MRAM) is a advanced non-volatile memory technology that stores binary data using electron magnetic spin states rather than electrical charges inside a Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ). By passing a spin-polarized electric current directly through the MTJ to alter the orientation of the free magnetic layer, STT-MRAM achieves near-instantaneous write speeds, infinite write endurance, and complete immunity to electrical charge corruption.
+-----------------------------------+
| Top Electrode (Bit Line) |
+-----------------------------------+
|
v
+-----------------------------------+
| Free Magnetic Layer (Switchable) | <-- Current flips spin state
+-----------------------------------+
| Tunnel Barrier (Insulating Oxide)| <-- Quantum tunneling
+-----------------------------------+
| Fixed Magnetic Layer (Reference) | <-- Constant orientation
+-----------------------------------+
|
v
+-----------------------------------+
| Bottom Electrode (Word Line) |
+-----------------------------------+
Unlike early Toggle MRAM, which required external magnetic fields generated by current lines, STT-MRAM uses the spin angular momentum of electrons directly. Everspin's implementation uses a Perpendicular Magnetic Tunnel Junction (pMTJ) cell structure. This perpendicular orientation allows smaller cell dimensions, vastly improved data retention, higher densities, and lower write power.
| Operational Feature | Legacy NOR Flash | Volatile SRAM + Battery | Everspin STT-MRAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Storage Principle | Trapped Electrical Charge | Active Transistor Charge | Magnetic Spin Alignment |
| Radiation Immunity | Vulnerable to Bit Flips | High SEU Vulnerability | Intrinsically Immune |
| Write Speed | Slow (Milliseconds) | Ultra-Fast (Nanoseconds) | Fast (Nanoseconds) |
| Write Endurance | Low (~10^5 Cycles) | Unlimited (Power Dependent) | Virtually Unlimited (>10^14) |
| Power State Retention | Non-Volatile | Volatile | True Zero-Power Non-Volatile |
| Bus Overhead | High Latency | Low Latency / High Pin Count | Low Overhead Quad SPI |
Geosynchronous Earth Orbit sits roughly 35,786 kilometers above Earth's equator. At this altitude, spacecraft operate outside the protective envelope of Earth's lower atmosphere, directly exposed to galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), solar particle events (SPEs), and energetic trapped protons in the outer Van Allen radiation belt.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Space Hazards vs. MRAM Defense |
| |
| [Cosmic Rays & Protons] --------> Imparts Heavy Ion Charges |
| | |
| v |
| [Charge-Based Flash Memory] ----> Bit Flips & Oxide Degradation |
| [Magnetic STT-MRAM] ---------> No Charge Trapping (Unaffected)|
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
Traditional memories rely on trapped charges within silicon floating gates or capacitor structures. High-energy heavy ions striking these cells displace electrons, triggering Single Event Upsets (SEUs), Single Event Latch-ups (SELs), or permanent oxide breakdown. STT-MRAM avoids charge trapping altogether. Because data exists as physical magnetic vector orientations inside the MTJ, atomic particles pass through without altering the state.
Historically, satellite engineers relied on volatile SRAM paired with complex backup battery systems to preserve dynamic logs during unexpected reboots. Batteries add unwanted launch mass, occupy precious physical volume, and present chemical failure points over long operational windows. STT-MRAM provides SRAM-like access speeds while preserving data passively without power.
Space missions undergo constant software updates, sensor logging, and attitude adjustment updates. Flash memory wears out under continuous write cycles, leading to premature system degradation. STT-MRAM offers virtually unlimited cycle endurance, enabling mission operators to record fine-grained system state telemetry continuously for decades.
As Lisa Napolitano, Senior Director of Microelectronics for Honeywell Aerospace, noted in industry evaluations, space-qualified MRAM circuits are engineered to run without failure for 15 to 20 years or more in high-radiation orbits—a baseline requirement for modern orbital infrastructure.
Definition: The Astro Digital Raven Bus is a modular, high-reliability satellite platform designed for complex orbital missions, payload hosting, and GEO constellation deployments that demand high power efficiency, fast telemetry processing, and long mission durability.
Operating in a GEO slot means a satellite remains fixed above a specific geographical point on Earth, matching the planet's rotational speed. This orbit serves as the backbone for international telecommunications, defense surveillance, and meteorological monitoring. However, a fixed GEO slot offers no shield from space weather, requiring extreme hardware reliability.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Raven Bus GEO Subsystems |
| |
| +---------------------+ +--------------------+ +------------+ |
| | Communications Payload | | Guidance & Control | | Solar Arrays| |
| +---------------------+ +--------------------+ +------------+ |
| | | | |
| +-----------------------+-------------------+ |
| | |
| v |
| +----------------------------------+ |
| | Core System Flight Computer | |
| | [Everspin 64Mb PERSYST STT-MRAM] | |
| +----------------------------------+ |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
Integrating Everspin’s 64Mb STT-MRAM gives the Raven bus an unshakeable computational foundation. During system initialization, emergency recovery routines, or orbital recalibrations, the flight computer accesses system parameters directly from the MRAM array via high-speed Quad SPI. This eliminates boot delay and shields the spacecraft from power-loss code corruption.
The adoption of Everspin’s memory by Astro Digital is part of a larger, global shift across deep-tech sectors. Demand for radiation-hardened, low-latency, and energy-efficient non-volatile memory is reshaping the semiconductor market.
Everspin continues to build out its manufacturing and defense partnerships:
Astro Digital's integration of Everspin Technologies' 64Mb PERSYST STT-MRAM for the Raven Bus GEO mission confirms MRAM's position as an essential technology for space exploration and satellite communications. By replacing legacy Flash memory with high-density, radiation-hardened magnetic memory, spacecraft developers eliminate crucial failure points. As satellite constellations expand into deeper orbits, Everspin's magnetic memory solutions provide the persistence, speed, and endurance required to keep humanity's orbital network running without interruption.
Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM) is a non-volatile memory technology that stores binary data using magnetic orientation states rather than electrical charges. By leveraging electron magnetic spin inside a Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ), MRAM provides the high access speeds of SRAM combined with the true non-volatility of Flash memory, maintaining stored data indefinitely without active electrical power.
STT-MRAM is vital for space missions because magnetic storage cells are naturally immune to ionizing radiation, galactic cosmic rays, and single-event upsets (SEUs) that corrupt traditional charge-based memories. Furthermore, STT-MRAM offers virtually unlimited read/write endurance, fast execution speeds, and low power consumption, enabling satellites to log real-time flight data and execute instant boot recovery without wearing out memory cells.
Everspin's PERSYST STT-MRAM outperforms NOR Flash in write speed, write endurance, and energy efficiency. While NOR Flash requires slow, energy-intensive block erase cycles before writing new data and degrades after roughly 100,000 cycles, STT-MRAM allows byte-level writes in nanoseconds with endurance exceeding 10^14 write cycles, completely eliminating erase delays and memory wear concerns.
Geosynchronous Earth Orbit sits roughly 35,786 kilometers above Earth, placing satellites directly within harsh cosmic radiation zones and intense solar particle environments. Because GEO satellites remain in fixed relative positions for mission lifespans lasting 15 years or longer, their microelectronics must tolerate severe radiation doses and sudden power drops without memory corruption or physical degradation.
Featured image by André Ulysses De Salis on Pexels
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