US Space Solar Startup Rakes Up $50 Million Series A Financing

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The idea of beaming solar energy down to Earth from space was just a gleam in the eye of sci-fi writers until 2013, when a research team at CalTech scored $100 million in private funding to look into the matter. Just a dozen years later, today the space solar field is crowded with enthusiastic investors, the latest example being a group of firms and individuals who put up $50 million for the California startup Aetherflux.

Another New Space Solar Project

Space solar still seemed like a wacky concept ripped from the pages of sci-fi novels even after the CalTech team began to apply itself to the field, but the fan base grew quickly. “Since clouds, atmosphere and nighttime are absent in space, satellite-based solar panels would be able to capture and transmit substantially more energy than terrestrial solar panels,” the US Department of Energy pronounced in 2014 (see lots more space solar background here).

The space-based angle represents a significant new opportunity for solar growth in the US and other parts of the world, where developers are running up against land use issues and opposition from fossil energy stakeholders. The the ability to beam solar energy down to anywhere in the world on a 24/7 basis also has widespread implications for military applications, disaster response, and other remote operations.

Aetherflux brought a fresh burst of attention to the field last October, when it announced itself as a serious competitor. The founder of Aetherflux is Robin Hood co-founder Baiju Bhatt, who initially self funded the project to the tune of $10 million.

$50 Million Says Space Solar Is For Real

Self-funding is one thing. Convincing others to come along for the space solar ride is another.

Bhatt rolled out Aetherflux’s bona fides in a post on Medium last week, in which he noted that the startup has nailed a $50 million round of Series A financing. The growth spurt was led by Index Ventures and Interlagos, with the familiar Breakthrough Energy Ventures also chipping in. Bhatt also name-checked Andreessen Horowitz, Vlad Tenev, Dan Gallagher, Jared Leto, and Laurent and François-Paul Journe, among others.

Another investor is the venture capital firm NEA, which bills itself as the “foundation for new frontiers.”

“To be a founder is to imagine the future—and to have a plan to build it,” NEA proclaims on its website, which seems like a good fit for the space solar field.

If you’re wondering where Jared Leto fits in, that’s a good question. WWF (the World Wildlife Federation) may have the answer. Leto is better known for his wildlife conservation work, having served as a WWF Global Ambassador since 2015, and WWF is among the nature conservation organizations that advocate for renewable energy.

Next Steps For Space Solar

Aetherflux crossed the CleanTechnica radar in last fall, when Bhatt first announced the venture. “Our mission is to commercialize space solar power,” Bhatt stated. “If we succeed, we unlock a renewable energy source for humanity that can be delivered virtually anywhere.”

The startup has been very busy since then. In his update last week, Bhatt reported that his team has been focusing on military applications and has already demonstrated power transmission in the lab. The current stage of work involves sub-scale tests, leading to an in-space demonstration in 2026.

Bhatt also notes that the company has received approval from the Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund (OECIF) towards a proof-of-concept demonstrating power transmission in low earth orbit. No word yet on the size of the award or where it is in the pipeline.

What Is This OECIF Of Which You Speak?

I’ve reached out to Aetherflux for more details about the OECIF funding. In the meantime, if OECIF does come through it’s a big deal. For that matter, it will be a big deal if Congress continues funding OECIF considering the current state of White House defense policy, but that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.

“Congress began funding OECIF in 2012 when supply lines were highly contested in Afghanistan,” OECIF explains, referring obliquely to the lethal hazards of transporting fossil fuels and other supplies to remote operations, which helped to spark DoD’s interest in solar energy among other alternatives.

“The warfighter’s voice is critically embedded in investment decisions, but it is not the only driver,” OCEIF emphasizes. “Department-wide strategies, such as the National Defense Authorization Act, the National Defense Strategy, the DoD Science and Technology Energy Strategy, and Energy and Power Community of Interest (E&PCoI) input all help inform OECIF investments.

“Space solar power can deliver power directly to our forces, reducing reliance on fuel convoys and fixed infrastructure, even in remote or contested regions like the Indo-Pacific,” Bhatt emphasizes. “By delivering energy, day or night, we can protect warfighters, safeguard military assets, and support long-term DoD energy modernization, all while saving taxpayer money.”

The Aetherflux Difference

As Bhatt notes, there is plenty of competition in the space solar field. That includes other US startups as well as research teams in the UK and China, among other nations.

Standing out from the crowd is going to be a tough row to hoe. For Aetherflux, the solution is to do away with the vast, sprawling receiving stations required of space solar systems that follow a geostationary orbit. By relying on a network of LEO (low earth orbit) solar energy harvesters, Aetherflux can deploy smaller receiving stations on Earth.

“Traditional proposals called for billion-dollar, goliath structures in Geostationary orbit, using radio waves for power transmission and requiring massive footprints on the ground,” Bhatt elaborates. “Instead of transmitting power through microwaves, we’ll use infrared lasers, allowing for higher power output and smaller footprints on Earth.”

That’s all well and good for the future. For the here and now, solar power plants on Earth are now the fastest and least expensive means of adding more kilowatts to the global grid without stewing the planet in more greenhouse gases. Much as fossil energy stakeholders and their allies in the White House refuse to believe it, that’s a fact.

Image (cropped): Space solar startups are attracting serious investor interest, the latest example being a $50 million Series A haul for the US firm Aetherflux (courtesy of Aetherflux via Medium).