By: Jeff Johnson, Karly Wentz, Nate Johnson and Eric Brook

The space economy is scaling rapidly. Over the past decade, launch costs have plummeted, satellite constellations have proliferated and an expanding set of commercial and government missions are pushing the boundaries of what can be done in orbit. But as the number and ambition of these missions grow, so does their demand for their most critical resource: power. Today, most satellites are constrained by fixed onboard energy that limits when and how intensively they can operate. That gap between what satellites could do and what their power systems allow is becoming one of the defining bottlenecks of the industry.

B Capital is thrilled to lead Star Catcher’s $65M Series A funding round. Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, Star Catcher is building the first power grid in space – a network of orbital Power Nodes that wirelessly beam concentrated solar energy to client satellites, enabling spacecraft to operate at higher power levels and with greater uptime than their onboard systems alone can provide. The company has validated its core power beaming technology through a series of demonstrations and is poised for its next phase of growth. That progress is backed by signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with commercial satellite operators across multiple sectors and active engagement with the U.S. government on programs that extend the same core technology to government use cases.

 

Power Is the Binding Constraint in Space

The space industry has been transformed over the past decade by a dramatic reduction in launch costs. SpaceX’s reusable rocket architecture has driven costs down by roughly 90% in the last 20 years, and annual satellite launches have grown nearly 20x since 2015.^{1, 2} More than 15,000 satellites now orbit Earth, with over 90% operating in low-Earth orbit (LEO),^{2, a} and forecasts project the orbital satellite population could reach as high as 100,000 satellites by 2030 as next-generation constellations come online.³ According to Novaspace, the global space economy exceeded $600B in 2025 and is on pace to surpass $1T by 2034.⁴

As the cost of reaching orbit has fallen, a new constraint has emerged: power. Satellites are solar-powered machines, but their energy budgets are fundamentally limited. Onboard solar panels and batteries provide a fixed power envelope, typically ranging from a few hundred watts to several kilowatts. Three structural factors compound this constraint in LEO. First, satellites spend roughly half of every orbit in Earth’s shadow, without access to solar energy. Second, payloads are becoming far more power-intensive as operators pursue higher-value workloads such as advanced imaging, direct-to-cell communications and edge computing, with next-generation platforms designed for power budgets of 10-30 kilowatts or more, compared to roughly 1-2 kilowatts for the average LEO satellite today.⁵ Third, the economics of adding more onboard solar capacity are unfavorable – space-grade photovoltaic cells^b cost orders of magnitude more than their terrestrial equivalents, and larger arrays introduce engineering complexity around mass, drag and spacecraft orientation control.⁶

The result is that most satellites today are forced to throttle their payloads below maximum operating capacity. Operators cannot run their revenue-generating systems at full duty cycle^c because there is not enough power to do so. The parallel with terrestrial energy infrastructure is instructive. On Earth, the development of shared power grids was one of the foundational enablers of industrialization, freeing individual facilities from having to own and operate dedicated generation equipment. Space has not yet had that transition. As orbital infrastructure matures and satellite density in LEO continues to increase, the conditions for shared power infrastructure are now emerging.

 

Building the Power Grid for Space

Star Catcher Power Nodes collect solar energy in orbit, convert it into a focused laser beam, and transmit that beam directly to the solar panels of client satellites, with no hardware modifications required on the receiving end. Each Power Node has three subsystems. A collector uses Fresnel lens arrays^d to concentrate incident solar radiation and photovoltaic cells to convert it to electricity. A conditioning system then converts that electricity into laser energy at wavelengths tuned for the client satellite’s solar panels, using commercially available fiber laser technology. A proprietary tracking system uses machine learning-based optical tracking to acquire and maintain precision lock on client satellites at distances of thousands of kilometers. Any satellite with standard solar arrays can receive power from the Star Catcher Network.

Operating in higher LEO orbits, each Power Node is designed to deliver power and serve dozens of client satellites simultaneously. As the network scales, Star Catcher satellites at higher altitudes can extend coverage by collecting solar energy in constantly sunlit positions and distributing it down to LEO Power Nodes, enabling power delivery even during eclipse periods. A full orbital constellation of satellites would provide unbroken power coverage across an entire orbital inclination.^e

Critically, Star Catcher’s approach does not depend on any speculative propulsion systems, novel energy storage or unproven physics. The underlying component technologies – Fresnel optics, fiber lasers, photovoltaic conversion and optical tracking – are individually mature. What Star Catcher is building is the integrated system architecture and operational capability to deploy them as coordinated orbital infrastructure.

 

Proven Technology, Defined Roadmap

Star Catcher has moved rapidly through a series of progressively ambitious technical demonstrations. In March 2025, the company conducted its first public ground demonstration, beaming measurable amounts of power over 100 meters at Jacksonville’s EverBank Stadium.^{7, 8} In November 2025, the team set a world record for wireless optical power transmission at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, delivering more than 1.1 kilowatts of electrical power to commercial off-the-shelf solar panels at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility and surpassing the previous benchmark of 800 watts set by DARPA earlier in the year.⁹ Across the test campaign, Star Catcher delivered more than 10 megajoules of energy and validated compatibility with both single- and triple-junction photovoltaic technologies.^{9, f}During the demonstration, the company also wirelessly recharged the onboard batteries of Intuitive Machines’ Moon RACER Lunar Terrain Vehicle, illustrating how beamed power could extend lunar surface operations through the two-week lunar night and within permanently shadowed regions.¹⁰

In late 2025, Star Catcher completed Sextant Alpha, its first flight heritage mission aboard a Loft Orbital satellite. The mission successfully demonstrated the company’s proprietary spacecraft acquisition and tracking software on-orbit at distances representative of commercial power beaming operations.¹¹ Star Catcher’s first on-orbit power beaming demonstration is planned for 2026, with full-scale multi-orbit deployment in the coming years.¹⁰

 

Strong Early Validation Across Commercial and Government Markets

Star Catcher has signed multiple PPAs with commercial customers spanning satellite platforms, sensing and imaging, orbital data infrastructure and telecommunications.⁹ In November 2025, Loft Orbital announced a landmark PPA to purchase power from the Star Catcher Network to augment the power generation capabilities of its growing constellation of mission-agnostic satellite platforms.¹² The Loft agreement reflects how operators are beginning to rethink power not as a fixed satellite design parameter, but as an infrastructure service that can be procured on demand.

Whether a satellite operator is running synthetic aperture radar,^g hosting computing workloads or providing broadband connectivity, additional power translates directly into higher uptime and greater revenue per spacecraft. For power-constrained satellites, Star Catcher’s service can meaningfully increase the economic value of existing orbital assets without requiring operators to redesign or replace hardware, with a clear, quantifiable ROI.

On the government side, Star Catcher is engaged with the U.S. Air Force and Space Force across multiple programs and has received non-dilutive funding through SBIR/AFWERX.¹³ The same core power-beaming and tracking infrastructure that serves commercial satellites unlocks a range of national security capabilities.

 

The Right Team to Build Critical Space Infrastructure

B Capital has followed Star Catcher since first meeting Andrew Rush (CEO and Co-Founder) and Michael Snyder (CTO and Co-Founder) in the company’s earliest days. B Capital, through its early-stage team led by Chair and General Partner Howard Morgan, co-led Star Catcher’s seed round in 2024.¹⁴ Over time, it has become clear that Star Catcher’s technical progress reflects the experience and rigor of a team that has built and scaled space infrastructure businesses before.

Andrew is a veteran space executive with more than 15 years of experience in the industry. He served as CEO of Made In Space, which developed and operated the first satellite to manufacture products in space and sell to customers on Earth. Following Made In Space’s acquisition by Redwire (NYSE: RDW), Andrew served as President and COO, helping scale the company across power systems, antennas and other space infrastructure.¹⁵ Andrew currently serves as a member of the NASA Advisory Council on the Technology, Innovation and Engineering Committee, having previously chaired the Council’s Regulatory and Policy Committee.^{16, 17}

Michael co-founded and served as Chief Engineer at Made In Space for a decade and as CTO at Redwire, bringing deep technical continuity in deployable solar arrays, in-space manufacturing and spacecraft systems.¹⁵ The broader Star Catcher team includes experienced operators from across the space industry, with backgrounds spanning spacecraft development, government contracting and defense engineering. Together, they have demonstrated repeatable execution across hardware development, space operations and government programs, reinforcing that they are the right team to scale a category-defining business in orbital infrastructure.

 

Building the Power Grid for the Orbital Economy

We believe the next phase of the space economy will be shaped by the infrastructure that enables it to scale. As investors with deep expertise across energy and technology, we focus on backing companies that build foundational systems for markets undergoing structural transformation.

Star Catcher sits at the center of this shift. By building shared power infrastructure for orbit, the company has the potential to reshape how satellites are designed, deployed and operated, unlocking capabilities that are currently constrained by energy limitations. We are proud to partner with Andrew, Michael and the Star Catcher team as they work to build the power grid that the orbital economy requires.

The investment was led by Jeff Johnson (General Partner, Head of Energy at B Capital), alongside Karly Wentz (Partner, Energy), with investment team members Nate Johnson and Eric Brook. We are also grateful to Howard Morgan and Patrick Harmon of B Capital’s  team, whose early conviction in Star Catcher’s 2024 seed round, support throughout this round’s diligence process and continued partnership as co-investors helped bring this investment together.

 

 

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LEGAL DISCLAIMER
All information is as of May 5, 2026 and subject to change. This content is a high-level overview and for informational purposes only. The investment discussed herein is a portfolio company of B Capital; however, such investment does not represent all B Capital investments. Certain statements reflected herein reflect the subjective opinions and views of B Capital personnel. Such statements cannot be independently verified and are subject to change. There can be no assurance any such trends or correlations will continue in the future. Reference to third-party firms or businesses does not imply affiliation with or endorsement by such firms or businesses. It should not be assumed that any investments or companies identified and discussed herein were or will be profitable. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The information herein does not constitute or form part of an offer to issue or sell, or a solicitation of an offer to subscribe or buy, any securities or other financial instruments, nor does it constitute a financial promotion, investment advice or an inducement or incitement to participate in any product, offering or investment. Much of the relevant information is derived directly from various sources which B Capital believes to be reliable, but without independent verification. This information is provided for reference only and the companies described herein may not be representative of all relevant companies or B Capital investments. You should not rely upon this information to form the definitive basis for any decision, contract, commitment or action. Any forward-looking statements are based solely on information provided by the company or on publicly available data and reflect the views of the authors as of the date of publication. B Capital is not making any guarantees with respect to any such forward-looking information.

DEFINITIONS

1. Low-Earth orbit (LEO): Altitudes of roughly 200 to 2,000 kilometers above Earth
2. Space-grade photovoltaic cells: Specialized solar cells engineered for the harsh conditions of space
3. Duty cycle: The share of time a system can operate at full power
4. Fresnel lenses: Thin, lightweight optical lenses
5. Orbital inclination: The band of latitudes a satellite passes over in its orbit
6. Single- and triple-junction photovoltaic technologies: Two classes of solar cell design commonly used in space that differ in how efficiently they convert light to electricity
7. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR): A high-resolution imaging technology that uses radar signals to map the Earth’s surface

SOURCES

1. World Economic Forum, “Space: The $1.8 Trillion Opportunity for Global Economic Growth,” April 2024
2. Jonathan McDowell, “McDowell’s Space Statistics”
3. European Space Agency, “Around 100,000 satellites are expected to be in orbit by 2030,” ESA Multimedia, April 2025
4. Novaspace, Space Economy Report, 12th Edition, January 2026
5. Company filings and product announcements from SpaceX (Starlink V3), K2 Space (Mega and Giga platforms) and Apex (Nova and Comet platforms)
6. NASA, “State of the Art of Small Spacecraft Technology,” February 2025
7. SpaceNews, “Star Catcher completes first ground test for space power beaming service,” March 24, 2025
8. Jacksonville Daily Record, “Jacksonville startup Star Catcher demonstrates ability to beam power,” March 31, 2025
9. Star Catcher Industries, “Record-breaking optical power beaming proves path to scalable power grid for space,” November 4, 2025
10. Intuitive Machines, “Star Catcher and Intuitive Machines Successfully Demonstrate Power Beaming for Extended Lunar Surface Operations,” November 14, 2025
11. Star Catcher Industries, “Star Catcher completes on-orbit precision acquisition and tracking demonstration,” April 9, 2026
12. Star Catcher Industries, “Loft Orbital purchases power from Star Catcher’s orbital energy grid,” November 18, 2025
13. Star Catcher Industries, “AFWERX selects Star Catcher for Phase II SBIR to advance orbital power beaming,” December 15, 2025
14. Star Catcher Industries, “Star Catcher closes $12.25M Seed round,” July 24, 2024
15. Redwire Corporation (NYSE: RDW), public filings and press releases; Made In Space Inc., company press materials
16. U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, “Reopening the American Frontier: Reducing Regulatory Barriers and Expanding American Free Enterprise in Space,” hearing record, April 26, 2017
17. Made In Space, “Made In Space Announces Appointment of President & CEO Andrew Rush As Chairman of NASA Advisory Council Regulatory and Policy Committee,” April 27, 2020