Star Catcher, a startup led by former NASA advisor Andrew Rush, is building the world’s first orbital energy grid—a network of satellites that can beam power wirelessly to other spacecraft hundreds of kilometres away. The company has raised approximately $88 million to date, including a $65 million Series A from B Capital, Shield Capital, and Cerberus Ventures, to create an “energy-as-a-service” platform for satellites. Rather than forcing every satellite to carry oversized solar arrays and batteries, spacecraft will be able to draw power from this shared orbital network on demand, much like plugging into a terrestrial grid.
The concept of space-based power beaming has long been relegated to science fiction, but falling launch costs—driven by SpaceX’s reusable rockets—have turned it into a near-term engineering challenge. Star Catcher’s approach tackles what Rush identifies as the next major bottleneck in the space economy: power. As satellite deployment explodes, solar arrays and battery packs become a limiting factor in spacecraft design, mass, and mission flexibility. An orbital energy grid could fundamentally reshape how satellites are built and operated, potentially enabling smaller, cheaper spacecraft that can draw power from orbit rather than generating it onboard.
Why does an orbital power grid matter for the energy sector?
For energy professionals, Star Catcher’s model represents a fascinating parallel to the terrestrial grid’s evolution. Just as centralised power plants and transmission lines enabled the electrification of cities and industries, an orbital energy grid could unlock a new wave of space-based commercial activity—from in-space manufacturing and servicing to high-bandwidth communications and Earth observation. The “energy-as-a-service” subscription model also mirrors the shift toward distributed energy resources and power purchase agreements (PPAs) on Earth, but applied to a market where the “customer” is a satellite operating in low Earth orbit.
More broadly, the technology underpinning Star Catcher’s wireless power transmission could eventually have terrestrial spillover effects. Beaming energy over long distances without wires is a holy grail for remote power delivery, disaster relief, and even space-based solar power—where orbital solar farms would beam electricity down to Earth. While that vision remains decades away, the engineering advances required to make satellite-to-satellite power transfer reliable and efficient will inevitably accelerate research into wireless power on the ground.
What is the business case for space energy-as-a-service?
Star Catcher’s pitch is straightforward: instead of designing a satellite around a bespoke power system, operators can buy power on demand from a shared infrastructure. This reduces upfront capital expenditure, simplifies satellite design, and extends mission life by enabling on-orbit refuelling of power. The company’s $88 million in funding—a substantial sum for a pre-revenue space startup—signals strong investor conviction that the orbital energy market is real.
- $88 million raised to date, including a $65 million Series A led by B Capital, Shield Capital, and Cerberus Ventures.
- CEO Andrew Rush served on the NASA Advisory Council and previously built and exited two space companies: Redwire and Made-In-Space.
- Wireless power transmission over hundreds of kilometres—a technology previously confined to lab experiments and science fiction.
- Energy-as-a-service model: satellites pay for power when they need it, rather than carrying oversized solar arrays and batteries.
The comparison to terrestrial energy infrastructure is instructive. Just as the electrical grid enabled the proliferation of appliances and factories, an orbital energy grid could enable a new generation of space-based industries—from debris removal to satellite servicing to in-space data centres. The latter is particularly intriguing: as cloud computing and AI workloads grow, some analysts have floated the idea of placing data centres in orbit to take advantage of abundant solar power and zero cooling costs. An orbital power grid would be a prerequisite for such ventures.
For now, Star Catcher’s immediate challenge is proving that wireless power beaming works reliably at scale in the harsh environment of space. If successful, the company could become the “grid operator” of the low Earth orbit economy—a role with enormous strategic and commercial value. The space industry is watching closely, and so should energy professionals, because the next big energy market may be 400 kilometres above our heads.
Read the full report at Energy Central.