Virginia-based solar aerospace startup Overview Energy announced that it has been awarded a Department of War contract to develop a homing beacon for its space solar energy system, under the Department’s Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund (OECIF).
In the Overview Energy system, the beacons will allow the company’s satellites to lock onto the ground sites designed to receive beamed solar power.
Once designed and built, the beacons will be installed at the ground sites, providing a way for the system to authenticate the connection with Overview satellites. The company says this authentication prevents signal spoofing and hijacking, ensuring the solar energy is transmitted only to the intended receivers.
The Overview Energy team is in the process of working with warfighters at operational sites. Earlier this year, the company was awarded a separate contract to provide space-based solar power to U.S. Air Force sites in so-called “Constrained environments.” The company’s goal is to enable delivery of power to remote locations that would normally require fuel to be shipped in.
“The connection between space and the ground is the most critical element of space solar energy, especially for warfighters who depend on power at precise locations,” said Overview Energy co-CEO Darko Filipi in a statement. “The homing beacon makes that connection precise and safe. Having proven the core technology during airborne demonstrations, this award allows us to build operational hardware shaped directly by end-user input.”
Overview Energy plans to launch a demonstration of its space solar energy in 2028. The company has conducted power beaming demonstrations from a moving airborne platform, which it says prove the functionality of the tracking and pointing systems planned for the orbital platform.
In addition to its military projects, Overview has signed an agreement to provide Meta with the output of an orbital solar array with as much as 1 GW in capacity.
By 2030, the company hopes to have a constellation of satellites in geosynchronous orbit that beam down solar power via near-infrared lasers 24 hours a day.
The OECIF is a joint operational energy investment program operated by the Department of War. The program was first funded in 2012, and has provided contracts for several solar-related projects in recent years, including a separate space-based solar project under the Space Force and projects related to solar array protection, lowering the cost of III-V photovoltaics.
The Department of Energy is also preparing a space-based photovoltaic research and development funding opportunity, set to close on October 8, 2026 and expected to announce projects selected for funding in December.
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