About ZeCoat Corporation
ZeCoat Corporation develops advanced thin-film optical coatings and vacuum-deposition technologies for demanding astronomy, aerospace, and scientific applications. Founded in 2011, we bring together expertise in coating design, physical chemistry, electronics, mechanical engineering, and software development to solve challenges that conventional coating systems cannot. At our manufacturing facility in Granite City, IL, our cleanroom, optical measurement laboratory, and motion-controlled electron-beam evaporation systems enable us to coat substrates up to two meters in diameter with exceptional uniformity and layer precision. Our capabilities include protected silver, far-ultraviolet aluminum, protected gold, multilayer dielectric, thermal-control, silicon-cladding, and ultra-black coatings. Technologies developed by our team have supported landmark missions and programs including the Kepler Space Telescope, Mars InSight, PACE, Chandrayaan-1, NuSTAR, and NASA’s starshade research. Today, we continue to advance the field through next-generation coatings, large-optic deposition systems, roll-to-roll processes, and technologies designed to apply or renew optical coatings in space.

David Sheikh
CEO, Founder
David A. Sheikh is the co-founder and CEO of ZeCoat Corporation, where he leads the development of advanced optical coating technologies for space, astronomy, and scientific research. With nearly four decades of experience in chemical engineering and vacuum deposition, he specializes in designing high-performance mirror coatings, thermal control coatings, and precision thin films for both ground-based and space-based optical systems.
Joshua Saadia
Operations Manager
Joshua Saadia oversees engineering operations, manufacturing, and quality management at ZeCoat Corporation. With more than 20 years of experience in thin-film coatings and vacuum systems, he has supported major aerospace programs and helps bring advanced coating technologies from research into production.

Our Technical Team
Placeholder — a short description of the ZeCoat team goes here.
Mars InSight Seismometer Cover
In 2014, the ZeCoat team designed the critical thermal control coating applied to the inner and outer shield of SEIS (the seismometer) on the Mars InSight Lander, protecting the sensitive instrument from intense Martian temperature swings and reducing solar glint.
NuSTAR Space Telescope
Mr. Sheikh developed x-ray transparent optics covers and solar rejection filters to block interfering sunlight while allowing high-energy X-rays to pass through safely.
NanoSail-D Spacecraft
Mr. Sheikh developed a highly reflective aluminum coating deposited directly onto ultra-thin, 2-micron polyimide film for NASA's early solar sail demonstrations.
ISIS High-altitude Airship
Mr. Sheikh developed a roll-to-roll coating process to apply silver to thin polyimide membranes to create the reflective surface on the outside of a high-altitude airship.
Starshade for Planet Hunting
ZeCoat developed a durable, ultra-black coating technology that could significantly improve NASA's ability to directly detect and study Earth-like exoplanets by suppressing unwanted reflected light.
Habitable Worlds Observatory Thermal Films
ZeCoat is currently leading the development of multi-layered thermal control films on polymer membranes to insulate and protect next-generation deep-space observatories.
Kepler Space Telescope
Mr. Sheikh developed the protected silver coating for the primary mirror of NASA's Kepler mission, which was vital for maximizing light reflectivity to discover Earth-sized exoplanets.
Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M³)
Mr. Sheikh created the protected silver coatings used on the M³ imaging spectrometer, a NASA instrument carried by India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft that helped confirm water molecules on the Moon.
Far-Ultraviolet (FUV) Broadband Coatings
The ZeCoat team designed & manufactured an advanced aluminum-based physical vapor deposition coating. This technique achieved over 90% reflectance in the FUV band at Lyman-alpha.
UV-Enhanced Protected Silver
ZeCoat engineered a specialized, exceptionally durable silver mirror coating that maintains high reflectivity from 350 nm through the long-wavelength infrared spectrum. The coating was flown on the OCI instrument aboard NASA's PACE mission.
Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) Project
ZeCoat is currently leading the development of FUV broadband reflective coatings for a NASA D.19 Industrial Partnership program.
Ground-Based Astronomy Mirror Coatings
ZeCoat is currently leading the development of FUV broadband reflective coatings for a NASA D.19 Industrial Partnership program.
