Our Mission: To create the landscape and conditions for commercial Space Solar Power technology by the U.S. to become successful and self-sustaining.

Space Frontier Foundation Updates

• The International Conference on Energy from Space 2025, sponsored by Space Energy Insights and the Space Frontier Foundation, is scheduled to be held on November 19-21 in France. This year's theme is "Energy for Security". Abstract submission is now open, and the deadline is July 18. Find more details on abstract submission here.
• David Steitz and Sowmya Venkatesh, of SFF, have recently published an article that features SFF's Congressional advocacy and why SSP is a national imperative. It covers the advocacy events that happened in Washington DC on September 30, 2024 and March 3-5, 2025. Congressional leaders and staff from over 60 offices and 3 committees were in attendance. The events brought to attention the absence of a clear leader of SSP development in the U.S., which puts the nation at risk of falling behind.

Notable News

• Volta Space Technologies has been selected for BetaKit's inaugural issue of most ambitious companies in Canada, with a section dedicated to space companies.
• Reflect Orbital has recently been selected for a $1.25 million Phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX for their satellite reflector technology.
• Star Catcher has announced their partnership with the company Starcloud, whose on-orbit data centers will utilize energy provided by Star Catcher's technology. This partnership is especially significant with recent calls for on-orbit compute, where SSP is particularly poised to meet power demands.
• Space Energy Insights has recently published blog posts quantifying how SSP can address the energy needs of Italy, Germany, and Poland. Space Energy Insights founder Sanjay Vijendran has attended the International Paris Air Show, advocating for SSP and developments necessary from the space industry.
• Researchers from the China Academy of Space Technology and other institutions have proposed an upcoming demonstration mission to test high-power space-based solar power generation and beaming from Low Earth Orbit to ground and between spacecraft.
• A recent paper from the University of Aveiro in Portugal delves into key SSP technologies such as quasioptics, beam focusing, time-modulated arrays, and energy rectification.
• Virtus Solis, alongside their university partners, has recently released an animation featuring a simulation that shows how much energy is transferred to ground stations from three satellites over a full day. They have also won a $10,000 grant from Automation Alley through the State of Michigan's Business Accelerator Fund, bringing Michigan closer to recognizing SSP as a qualifying renewable energy source.

SSP Systems Enablers

• Honda has independently developed and successfully tested an experimental reusable rocket that has reached an altitude of 271 meters. The advancement of reusable rockets is critical in bringing down launch costs and increase accessibility to orbital launches.
• A recent paper from Clarkson University introduces a new attitude trajectory optimization method for flat-panel SSP satellites in Molniya orbits, which is important in maximizing power beaming efficiency.

Upcoming Events

• SPIE's Photonics West has a subconference on Optical Power Delivery, key to the development of SSP. Abstracts are due July 9th and the conference will be held in San Francisco between January 17-22, 2026.
• POWER magazine has published an article about the upcoming Energy from Space Conference, in order to gain utility/energy industry participation in the conference.

The Promise of Nuclear

Tech companies have been increasingly turning to nuclear power for meeting their rising power demands, such as Google having bought 200 MW of fusion energy, even though the technology to do so is not fully developed. These trends are in light of a recent article that concludes that wind and solar energy alone cannot meet growing energy demands. Not only that, countries have different weather conditions that prevent them from being able to fully harness these renewable energy sources. An example is Hitzeflaute in Denmark, where there is low wind at night and the heat prevents gas plants from running at full capacity and nuclear plants from having sufficient cooling. This drives up prices when the sun is down. Despite the constraints of nuclear power, it remains a growing sector as a nuclear battery startup, Zeno Power, has achieved a funding milestone. Among these growing sources of energy, SSP can also serve as a complementary source that is reliable and available to any location on demand.

Source: Earth.org

Outsiders' Perspectives

• Eco News has featured in a recent article Reflect Orbital and their plans for a highly reflective mirror that reflects sunlight to Earth at night. They portray SSP as a promising solution that will be economically competitive as well.

Experts and Advocates on SSP

• Space architect Ariel Ekblaw has recently done a TED talk on how in-space assembly is crucial for space innovation that benefits life on Earth, and she discusses SSP as one such technology.
• Lindy Fursman of Tony Blair Institute for Global Change has released a paper argues for a strategic reset in climate action by emphasizing breakthrough clean energy innovations, including SSP.
• Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast, CEO of SpaceBilt, was interviewed on the Shawn Ryan Show, and he discusses the future of space infrastructure, including SSP. He delves into topics such as recent tests, power beaming physics, and the unique advantages of SSP.
• Baiju Bhatt, CEO of Aetherflux, in a recent interview with Yahoo Finance discusses his decision to invest in SSP and how SSP can meet growing energy demands. An article by Aetherflux investor Christian Garcia also makes similar arguments as to why SSP's time has come.
• Sam Adlen, co-CEO of Space Solar, was interviewed for a feature in the The Engineer, discussing their recent AlbaTRUSS demonstration of in-space solar panel assembly.