Award supports maturation of space-to-space power beaming to strengthen U.S. space operations and resilience

Star Catcher Industries (“Star Catcher”), a pioneer in orbital power beaming, today announced it has been awarded a $1.25 million AFWERX Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract to advance critical subsystems for its first-of-its-kind orbital energy grid. 

The Department of the Air Force (DAF) faces an urgent need to augment satellite power generation to meet real-time operational demands and counter rapidly evolving threats from near-peer adversaries. Under this award, Star Catcher will mature the core space-to-space power beaming technologies of its orbital energy grid to enhance military readiness and enable next-generation defense capabilities.

Today’s satellites lack the power required to deploy emerging mission capabilities like persistent synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical observation, high-throughput assured communications, high-performance computing, and responsive propulsion for highly maneuverable spacecraft. These limitations are compounded by eclipse periods, when satellites lose access to sunlight and must rely on finite battery reserves, risking delayed threat responses and reducing mission effectiveness. 

Star Catcher’s orbital energy grid, the Star Catcher Network, uses space-based optical power beaming to deliver concentrated solar energy to satellites’ existing solar arrays, boosting available power two to ten times without hardware modifications. This infrastructure provides continuous, on-demand energy anywhere in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), unlocking longer mission life, uninterrupted operations, and greater agility in contested environments.

“This contract marks another major milestone for orbital power beaming and the Star Catcher Network,” said Andrew Rush, CEO of Star Catcher. “We’re proud to continue our work from our Phase I earlier this year and bring this critical capability to the Department of the Air Force – transforming space power from a static onboard constraint into a dynamic, infrastructure-level service that enables lighter, more adaptable, and longer-lasting spacecraft.”

The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution. 

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Air Force, the Department of War, or the U.S. government.