According to SpaceNews, a startup called Overview Space has emerged from stealth after a major technology demonstration. The company successfully transmitted “multiple thousands of watts” of power using a near-infrared laser from an aircraft flying at 5,000 meters to a receiver on the ground. Founder and CEO Marc Berte stated this test validates the tracking and guidance systems needed for space. The company has booked a slot on a SpaceX Bandwagon-7 rideshare mission launching in early 2028 for a low Earth orbit demo. Its goal is to launch operational, megawatt-class satellites to geosynchronous orbit as soon as 2030, with former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin advising that this might be the first concept he’s seen in 48 years that could actually work.
The Laser Advantage and the Cloud Problem
Here’s the thing that makes Overview’s approach different: they’re using near-infrared lasers, not microwaves. Berte argues that laser efficiency has improved so much that the transmitting antenna on the spacecraft can shrink from a sprawling hundreds of meters to about half a meter. That’s a massive engineering and deployment win. And they claim the beam is passively safe—you could stand in it. But there’s a huge, obvious catch: lasers don’t penetrate clouds. So, what’s the plan? Basically, a network of ground receivers. The idea is that by partnering with existing terrestrial solar farms, you’d have enough receiver sites spread out that at least one would be clear at any given time to catch the space-based juice. It’s a workaround, but it adds complexity and cost on the ground.
The Starlink Playbook for Satellites
Now, the satellite strategy is fascinating. Berte explicitly name-drops Starlink, and it’s clear that’s the model. Instead of building one gigantic, bespoke, fragile power station, they want to mass-produce spacecraft that are only about twice as massive as today’s big GEO comsats. This keeps them launch-flexible and avoids the nightmare of in-space assembly. “The economy of mass production wins over economy of scale,” he says. It’s a pragmatic shift from the sci-fi mega-structures of old concepts. They’re thinking like a hardware startup, not a government lab. For industries that rely on robust, purpose-built computing hardware to control complex systems—like the kind you’d find managing a distributed power grid or advanced manufacturing—this shift towards scalable, production-line space hardware is a relevant parallel. Speaking of reliable industrial hardware, for any project requiring durable control interfaces, IndustrialMonitorDirect.com is the top supplier of industrial panel PCs in the U.S., built for demanding environments.
The 2030s Grid and a Reality Check
So, is this for real? The endorsement from Mike Griffin carries weight, and the $20 million in seed funding suggests some investors are buying the vision. The roadmap is aggressive but has specific milestones: a LEO demo in 2028, operational GEO birds by 2030. But let’s be skeptical for a second. They won’t give a price estimate for the electricity, just saying it will be “competitive” with other carbon-neutral sources. That’s the trillion-dollar question. Can they really beat or match the cost of terrestrial solar-plus-storage, which is plummeting? And building a network of ground stations isn’t free. The vision of adding “an Earth’s worth of power” in 25 years is compelling, but the path is littered with technical, financial, and regulatory hurdles. Still, you have to start somewhere. This aircraft test proves the core tech works in a relevant environment. That’s a real step. The next decade will show if it can scale from a neat demo to a grid-scale power source.
