Star Catcher to Launch Power-Beaming Demonstrator

Star Catcher Industries is set to launch its Protostar spacecraft today, October 1, aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-18 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The mission will demonstrate wireless power transmission between two untethered spacecraft, a capability the company says would be a first and could support the development of an orbital power infrastructure.

Protostar is designed as an end-to-end demonstration of Star Catcher’s technology, combining energy harvesting, spacecraft acquisition and tracking, and power transmission.

Following launch and commissioning, the spacecraft will deploy and track a CubeSat and beam measurable power to its commercially available solar panels. The demonstration is intended to provide operational data on power transmission between free-flying spacecraft in orbit.

The mission follows several earlier technology demonstrations by Star Catcher.

Co-founder and CTO Michael Snyder said the mission will provide data from real orbital conditions to support the company’s plans for commercial power-beaming infrastructure.

CEO and co-founder Andrew Rush said power availability remains a constraint for applications such as national security, orbital computing and Earth observation, and described Protostar as an important step toward the company’s planned orbital power grid.

Star Catcher has announced 10 commercial Power Purchase Agreements with companies including Starcloud, Loft Orbital, Astro Digital and Aethero, along with more than 40 Letters of Intent. The company has also received an $60 million Strategic Funding Increase award from the U.S. Space Force and raised $88 million in venture capital.

Image credits: Star Catcher