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# Star Catcher raises $65M to build the first power grid in space
- URL: https://nexi.fund/star-catcher-orbital-power-grid-2026/
- Published: 2026-08-25T16:30:54.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-25T16:30:54.000Z
- Description: Star Catcher raised $65M to turn spacecraft power from a fixed constraint into a service, beaming sunlight to satellites already in orbit. With named customers and a 2026 demo, the orbital-utility bet is now funded.
- Author: Nexi.fund Labs
- Tags: Space & Expansion, #mode-2, #hook-thesis, #track-E

Power is the quiet constraint on every satellite in orbit. A Jacksonville startup just raised $65 million to sell it as a service.

Every spacecraft lives inside a power budget. Solar arrays decide the payload, the communications throughput, the propulsion margin, and how long the vehicle can work through eclipse. Engineers call the trio size, weight and power (SWaP). Reusable launch opened the size-and-weight side of that equation. Power stayed stubborn.

Star Catcher Industries is betting it can open the third side. Founded in 2024 and led by Andrew Rush, a former executive at Made in Space and Redwire, the company is building what it calls the first power grid in space. A constellation of orbital Power Nodes would collect sunlight, concentrate it, and beam it optically to customer satellites already flying standard solar panels. No retrofit, no custom receiver. The company claims the service can deliver up to ten times more power on demand.

The raise landed on May 12, 2026\. Star Catcher closed an oversubscribed $65 million Series A led by B Capital. Shield Capital and Cerberus Ventures co-led, with GreatPoint Ventures, Helena, Oceans Ventures and MVP Ventures also in. The round brings total capital to $88 million, after a $12.25 million seed in July 2024\. Retired Gen. John "Jay" Raymond, the first Chief of Space Operations of the U.S. Space Force, joined the board through Cerberus.

This is more than a slide deck. Star Catcher has run ground demonstrations at a football stadium and on the former Space Shuttle runway at Kennedy Space Center, delivering more than 1.1 kilowatts to commercial off-the-shelf solar panels. Its Sextant Alpha mission validated acquisition and tracking software on orbit aboard a Loft Orbital satellite in late 2025\. Two power purchase agreements are signed: Astro Digital in September 2025 and Loft Orbital in November 2025\. An AFWERX Phase II contract worth $1.25 million followed in December 2025\. The first space-based optical power-beaming demonstration is planned for later in 2026.

The investment case is infrastructure. Star Catcher wants to turn spacecraft power from a fixed design constraint into a recurring orbital service, where the Space and Energy sections meet. As orbital data centers and high-power payloads multiply, the bottleneck shifts from launch to electrons. The Defense Innovation Unit has issued a solicitation for commercial power-beaming, with a stated goal of operational military capability by the end of the decade, a signal of demand well beyond commercial operators.

Star Catcher is not alone. The Italian startup ORiS raised 5 million euros (about $5.7 million) in July 2026 to develop laser-based power beaming, a different technical path that trades big concentrating mirrors for compact lasers. Smaller, perhaps cheaper to launch, but lower power per node. The race is to retire technical risk first.

The hinge is the 2026 flight. A pre-revenue company is asking customers to depend on an external power service before grid-scale economics, insurance acceptance, and reliability are proven. Beam pointing, optical safety, spectrum coordination, space-traffic deconfliction, and export controls all sit between a demonstration and a utility. Under contested conditions, an outside power feed must prove it adds resilience rather than a new fragility.

⚠️

**What the 2026 demo must prove**  
  
Stable optical beaming from a node to a standard solar panel in orbit  
  
A second flight that retires the next layer of risk  
  
A customer willing to fly the service on a real mission 

Star Catcher is not selling rockets or satellites. It is selling electrons to vehicles already in orbit, reframing power from a fixed constraint into a service this readership tracks. The capital is real, the customers are named, and the demonstration is months away. Watch the flight.

[ Star Catcher raises $65 million for space power grid Funding announcement and executive commentary on the orbital power-beaming plan and the 2026 in-space demonstration. SpaceNews ](https://spacenews.com/star-catcher-raises-65-million-for-space-power-grid/?ref=nexi.fund) 

Primary source for the raise, total capital, and the SWaP framing.

[ Star Catcher Raises $65M Series A to Fuel In-Orbit Power Grid Investor lineup, the $88 million total raised, and Gen. Raymond's board role. Via Satellite ](https://www.satellitetoday.com/finance/2026/05/12/star-catcher-raises-65m-series-a-to-fuel-in-orbit-power-grid/?ref=nexi.fund) 

Confirms the cap table and the customer-agreement timeline.

[ Star Catcher Company Profile: Space Power Infrastructure for the Next Orbital Economy Deep profile of the business model, competitive context, and adoption risks as of May 2026. New Space Economy ](https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2026/05/12/star-catcher-company-profile-space-power-infrastructure-for-the-next-orbital-economy?ref=nexi.fund) 

Best single source for the unit-economics and risk caveats used above.