The First Off-Earth Energy Grid Is Being Developed by a Florida Startup
The Florida startup Star Catcher has obtained $12.25 million dollars in funding to create the very first space-based solar power source. This money will fund the development of its planned constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) power-beaming satellites. This is a significant milestone with this project being the first of its kind. The process is rolling along quickly, and the team plans to send some satellites into orbit as soon as next year. Solar spectrum energy will be delivered on demand to each client spacecraft’s solar arrays. The Star Catcher space-based energy grid is engineered to supply spacecraft with five to ten times more power than they can produce independently.
Star Catcher is based in Jacksonville, Florida, and was founded by former Made In Space CEO Andrew Rush and co-founder Bryan Lyandvert. With the added experience of being a former engineer, Lyandvert has brought an invaluable skill set to the development of such new and unfamiliar technology. The men started this project to address the issue of power-hungry spacecraft. Rush stated, “Being able to buy power for your spacecraft whenever and wherever you need it in LEO will expand opportunity and accelerate humanity realizing the potential of the second golden age of space.”
Star Catcher will provide power for the satellites in orbit, not to customers on Earth, but this is a rapidly growing market that Lyandvert and Rush are tapping into due to mega-constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink. There would be an expected 50,000 spacecraft in LEO by 2030, which is a five-fold increase from what we have today.
A network of “power node” satellites will be launched to LEO and will be sent to an altitude of roughly 900 miles (1,500 kilometers). Solar energy will be soaked up by these spacecraft and will be beamed to customer satellites in a usable form.
How Can This Address Climate Concerns?
By providing more power than spacecraft can generate on their own, the technology backed by Star Catcher aims to reduce reliance on traditional energy sources from Earth, thereby contributing to efforts to address climate change. The deployment of these satellites represents a significant step towards utilizing renewable energy sources from space. While the primary focus is currently on powering satellites in orbit rather than serving customers on Earth, the advancement of this technology holds promise for future applications that could have a direct impact on terrestrial energy use and carbon emissions. By tapping into the growing market of LEO satellites, Star Catchers’ network of "power node" satellites will efficiently harvest energy. This progress has the potential to greatly help in decreasing the carbon impact linked to space activities and could also spark breakthroughs for eco-friendly energy solutions here on Earth, thereby tackling climate issues on a larger level.
Reporting on Star Catcher and Space-Based Solar Power Sources
Journalists interested in reporting on these topics should touch on the significant financial investment that Star Catcher received and what ways the funding will be used to develop the first space-based power source. They can also go into details about the technological innovations involved with the space-based energy grid, which aims to deliver solar spectrum energy on demand to client spacecraft.
Star Catcher also cannot be mentioned without going over the founders, Rush and Lyandvert, along with some details on their backgrounds and what led them to this project. Lastly, some of the most important things to delve into related to Star Catcher involve research on what the market potential will be as well as all of the ways that it will impact climate change in a positive way. All in all, journalists can do their research to provide a comprehensive report on the broader implications of space-based power sources.
Aaron Dadisman is a contributing writer for the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States (AFPC-USA) who specializes in music and arts coverage. He has written extensively on issues affecting the journalism community as well as the impact of misinformation and disinformation on the media environment and domestic and international politics. Aaron has also worked as a science writer on climate change, space, and biology pieces.