Star Catcher, a Jacksonville, Florida startup, is preparing to launch a prototype system aboard a SpaceX rocket this week that will beam energy to another satellite in orbit. If the demonstration succeeds, it would mark the first time lasers have transmitted power between two untethered objects in space. The flight comes as Google, SpaceX and a range of other companies pursue plans to build data centers in orbit, which would require substantial power.
The satellite launching this week, called Protostar, is a small-scale version of the satellites Star Catcher intends to deploy later. The company says the full system will provide meaningful commercial power provisioning services in orbit before the end of the decade. During the demonstration, Star Catcher will use its tracking technology to beam energy to an untethered cubesat launching at the same time. Chief executive officer and cofounder Andrew Rush said part of the test involves measuring how much power the cubesat receives as it moves away from Protostar and comparing that with the company's models.
Star Catcher's approach uses an array of devices it calls power nodes, which function as both a solar power plant and a power line. The satellites collect sunlight through lenses and refine it into wavelengths the company says can deliver up to 10 times more power than diffuse sunlight. The system then emits a laser beam that can be aimed at satellites needing power. Rush has described the absence of a power grid in space as leaving everyone on small camping trips, and the company frames its service as a way to increase uptime and profit for satellite operators.
The idea of generating solar power in space dates back decades. It appeared in a 1941 science fiction piece by Isaac Asimov, and NASA studied it in the 1970s. Hanieh Fattahi, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, said launching large amounts of hardware into orbit was extremely expensive, making space-based power generation rarely practical. Falling launch costs are now making orbital industries more feasible, she said.
Interest in Star Catcher's offering is evident. The company announced a $65 million funding round earlier this year and won a $30 million award from the US Space Force. It has secured 40 letters of intent from prospective buyers and 10 power purchase agreements, which are long-term contracts. Google's first attempt at a space-based data center is also launching on the same SpaceX mission as Star Catcher's system.
Star Catcher has already tested space-based tracking of satellites it transmits energy to, and last year it set a record for beaming power on the ground, surpassing a mark set by DARPA. That test delivered more than 1 kilowatt to off-the-shelf solar panels, enough to power a microwave. Rush said the ground proof-of-concept gives him confidence, describing the company as still in the crawl phase but on its way to walking and then running.
Lasers have been tested in space before, though not in this configuration. The Naval Research Laboratory completed an experiment in 2023 that operated a space laser to generate power for 100 days, but the system was a single unit and the beam traveled less than 5 feet. That laser operated at only 11 percent efficiency, an issue Fattahi said must be overcome. She also said tracking systems, heat management and ensuring equipment can operate for years in the cold vacuum of space need further work before space-based lasers become economically viable.
Researchers have explored other forms of space-based solar as well. Caltech scientists successfully tested transmitting solar power to Earth via microwaves, a technique that can carry more energy but requires a massive receiver, whereas lasers can target something much smaller. Rush said growing infrastructure in space will make it more economical to place larger and more capable industry there, and he views Star Catcher's satellites as transformational for the space sector in the way reusable launch vehicles were.
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