The leader in space-based energy production, Star Catcher Industries, announced today that its $12.25 million seed round is now closed. Rogue VC made a significant contribution to the round, which was co-led by Initialized Capital and B Capital. With the support of this finance, the company is able to build the first space-based energy grid in history, the Star Catcher Network, which will assist in removing power limitations on space operations.
The Star Catcher Network is a novel energy grid that will be able to beam substantial amounts of broad spectrum energy to spacecraft in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and beyond once it is built. The network will supply current customer spacecraft solar arrays with energy on demand and in concentrations higher than the Sun, allowing them to create up to five or 10 times as much energy as they currently do.
Space-based telecommunications, on-orbit computing, remote sensing, human spaceflight, and national security applications are just a few of the high-performance, power-intensive applications that are in great demand. Star Catcher projects that by 2030, LEO will be home to over 40,000 satellites; in contrast to the tens of megawatts of power generation capacity currently in orbit, 840 megawatts will be required to run these systems. The Star Catcher Network will greatly amplify space-based power output to meet this growing need and allow satellite operators to reduce upfront costs while expanding capabilities and uptime by supplying spacecraft with larger concentrations of energy to state-of-the-art solar arrays.
According to Rush, CEO of Star Catcher, “extending power infrastructure into low-Earth orbit will accelerate the potential of space.” The startup wants to reinvent orbital power and has obtained many letters of intent from commercial space companies.
Andrew Sather of Initialized Capital and Howard Morgan of B Capital highlight the founders’ vast business knowledge and vision in praising Star Catcher’s potential to revolutionize space economics and technology.
VC investor Bryan Lyandvert and space entrepreneurs Andrew Rush and Michael Snyder launched Star Catcher with the goal of creating an in-space power system. Prior to its sale to Redwire Corporation, Rush and Snyder oversaw Made In Space. Lyandvert provides investing expertise from MetaProp Ventures and T-Bird Capital.
