Star Catcher launches Protostar to test laser power transfer between satellites

# What's happening Star Catcher, a startup based in Florida, launched a prototype spacecraft called Protostar to test beaming power between two free-flying satellites. The system collects sunlight, concentrates it with lenses, converts that light into laser wavelengths intended for efficient transmission, and aims the beam at another spacecraft equipped with standard solar panels to convert the light back into electrical power.

# Why it matters Satellites rely on solar panels and batteries, and weight limits constrain how much power hardware they can carry. Emerging space activities—like orbital data centers, AI processing, and manufacturing—need much more power than many current satellites can provide. If on-orbit power transfer works at scale, operators could keep aging satellites running longer, or equip new satellites with smaller panels and batteries and free up mass and volume for mission payloads.

# What Protostar will test Protostar is designed as an end-to-end demonstration. It will:

• Collect diffuse sunlight with an array of lenses.
• Convert that light into laser wavelengths chosen to maximize transmission efficiency and match common solar panel response.
• Locate and track a separate cubesat launched on the same mission.
• Fire a laser beam at the cubesat and record how much power the cubesat's panels receive as the distance changes, then compare those measurements with Star Catcher's models.

Star Catcher previously tested parts of the system: in 2025 it beamed 1.1 kilowatts to solar panels at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and later that year it tested space-based tracking software. Protostar is the first attempt to combine all elements in orbit between two untethered spacecraft.

# What the company claims

# Technical and program risks Several technical gaps remain before the concept can support large commercial satellites or orbital data centers:

• Delivered power: ground tests delivered 1.1 kW, which is far below the power levels some commercial satellites require.
• Tracking precision: beaming to a moving, untethered target requires continuous, very accurate pointing.
• Thermal management: concentrating and converting solar energy, and operating high-power lasers, creates heat that must be managed in space.
• Durability: hardware must survive radiation, thermal cycling, and wear for years to be a practical service.

# What to watch next Protostar's in-orbit demonstration results: whether the measured received power matches predictions as the cubesat moves away, how reliably the tracking system acquires and holds the target, and how the system manages heat and stability in real operations. Success would show that a satellite's power supply can be supplemented after launch, changing trade-offs for satellite design and enabling higher-power activities in orbit.

# Bottom line