Space Lasers Are About to Get Their First Real Test Generating Energy
Startup Star Catcher is launching a prototype system to test the feasibility of beaming solar energy between satellites using lasers. This technology aims to provide a more efficient power source for orbital infrastructure, potentially reducing the need for heavy onboard batteries.
Why it matters
Successful wireless power transmission in space could revolutionize satellite operations and lower the costs of maintaining orbital data centers and instruments.
Star Catcher, a startup based in Jacksonville, Florida, aims to provide it by concentrating the sun’s energy and using lasers to beam it to satellites’ waiting solar panels. The company is preparing to launch its prototype system aboard a SpaceX rocket this week that will transmit energy to another satellite in orbit.
If it’s successful, it would be the first time lasers have beamed energy between two untethered objects in space. But the idea of generating solar power in space goes back decades.
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