What Happened
Virginia Startup Overview Energy Advances Revolutionary Tech
The Pentagon’s Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund (OECIF) has contracted Virginia-based startup Overview Energy to demonstrate a key enabling technology for beaming solar energy to users on Earth. The company will design, build, and test a homing beacon for its satellite-based solar energy system, which converts the Sun’s radiation to near-infrared light for safe transmission to terrestrial power plants. This contract is part of the Defense Department’s growing interest in space-based solar power, with other companies like Katalyst Space also working on similar technologies. The demo is planned for early next year, according to a company spokesperson, as reported by Breaking Defense.