Our Airborne Demo Makes Space Solar Energy a Reality
Space solar energy can sound like something far off in the future: satellites in orbit, precision optics, lasers delivering energy to Earth. But we’ve changed that.
In November 2025, we achieved a world first in power beaming: transmitting power from a moving airplane to solar panels on the ground, across a distance of more than 5,000 meters.
It is the first demonstration of high-power wireless power transfer from any moving platform, ever. And we did it with the same systems we’ll be taking to space. This demonstration is the final validation step before moving our system off Earth, and it means we’ve already proven the hardest parts of this technology.
What the airborne demonstration actually was
Overview’s airborne testing is a multi-flight campaign to validate and optimize our system outside the lab. In our milestone flight, we installed Overview’s laser and optical systems on a Cessna Caravan and flew at an altitude of over 5,000 m (16,500 ft). On the ground, we installed a receiver of standard solar panels, the same kind used in utility-scale projects or on homes.
As the aircraft flew overhead, the system identified the receiver, locked onto it, and delivered power through an eye-safe beam. The panels converted that light into electricity in the same way they convert sunlight.
We took the fundamental systems we’ll be using in orbit, put them on a moving platform, and asked everything to perform with the precision required for space. And it worked.
Why this milestone matters
1. It shows the core technical pieces play well together in the real world
We set out to tackle the hardest parts of space solar energy, and prove each component could be integrated together. Through the airborne campaign, we moved our lasers out of the lab and into the real world, and paired them with optics built for aiming in real-world conditions. Aiming from an airplane is even harder than from a satellite, since an airplane (i) experiences turbulence and (ii) has a higher angular velocity relative to the ground site. The technical challenges we overcame give us confidence as we move on to our LEO Pilot demonstration – we’ve already proven we can handle the hard parts.
2. It completes the “proof of concept” phase of our roadmap
Our development plan has three stages: crawl, walk, run.
Proof of concept: Completed with our airborne power-beaming milestone
Pilot: A low Earth orbit (LEO) pilot in 2028 that demonstrates the full system in space
First of a kind: Our first geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellites in 2029-2030, where they will see the sun ~99% of the time
The jump from aircraft to orbit may sound dramatic. It isn’t. The optics chain, the lasers, the tracking, the receiver physics—the hard parts are the same. What changes is altitude.
How the airborne tech works (for those who want to go deeper)
Our airborne testing let us prove our system’s function and collect valuable data in a more easily accessible environment than space, allowing us to move quicker and keep costs low. We mounted three key units on an airplane for this testing:
1. Lasers and optics: This system contains a laser shelf, with the individual laser modules that convert the electricity to light, and an optics cube (sealed for takeoff and landing) that contains our proprietary optical assembly which (i) tracks the ground receiver (solar array), (ii) combines the output of all the lasers into a single beam, and (iii) directs the beam to the receiver. The lasers and optics are functionally identical to our satellite design, hence why the data we collected from this airborne test is so valuable.
2. Cooling: We have to cool our lasers to keep them efficient and keep their wavelengths within our precise range. While our spacecraft will have radiators that reject heat from the lasers, the aircraft had a stand-in “thermal battery” containing phase change material (ice) that was frozen ahead of each flight and absorbed heat from the lasers during transmission.
3. Batteries: Unlike the satellite, we could not mount solar arrays outside the aircraft and even if we could they would not operate during night test flights. To simulate the solar panels, we built a battery system to power the lasers during transmission.
This world-first power beaming flight was part of a carefully planned sequence of test flights. We coordinated with the FAA to ensure that the entire operation was safe. Now that the core system has been validated in the real world, the airborne campaign continues as we collect additional data and optimize performance ahead of our in-space pilot.
A first proof point in a larger journey
This airborne milestone is the first-ever demonstration in the field that reflects how a commercial space solar energy system will operate IRL. Over time, these systems will create a new layer of energy infrastructure, positioned above the grid and complementing what exists on the ground.
With airborne validation achieved, we look upward. This milestone doesn’t mark the finish line. It marks the moment when the idea of space solar energy becomes more tangible. The core elements work. The safety holds. The next steps are clear.
Space offers constant sunlight. Now we’re learning how to bring that energy home to our grid in a controlled, predictable way.
Watch footage from the milestone flight: