GoKawiilStar Catcher to test laser-based power beaming between two satellites
Florida startup Star Catcher is launching a prototype system on a SpaceX rocket to beam concentrated solar energy via laser to a separate orbiting satellite. CEO Andrew Rush says the system, called power nodes, gathers and refines sunlight into concentrated wavelengths that can then be directed as a laser beam toward satellites needing power.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
If successful, this would mark the first time lasers have transmitted energy between two untethered objects in space, potentially validating a decades-old concept once dismissed as impractical due to launch costs. Researcher Hanieh Fattahi notes falling launch costs are reviving interest in orbital power generation, which could support ambitions from companies like Google and SpaceX to build space-based data centers that need reliable, continuous power without relying solely on onboard batteries.
- Star Catcher is testing laser power transmission between two satellites for the first time
- The technology could reduce reliance on batteries and support space-based data center ambitions
- Falling launch costs are making orbital power generation more commercially viable than in past decades
Source: wired.com — Brian Kahn, 2026-09-28
Published there as: “Space Lasers Are About to Get Their First Real Test Generating Energy”
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