Space Force awards Pulse Space $40 million to advance laser power technology
Pulse Space, a startup developing laser technology designed to transmit power and data between spacecraft, said it has won a $40 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to advance the technology.
The Bellevue, Washington-based company, founded in 2022, said the contract will support development of its laser-based technology but did not specify what military applications will be demonstrated under this agreement.
"We are honored to partner with the United States Space Force to mature our laser-based technologies," founder and chief executive Karl Stedman said July 9 in a statement.
Pulse Space is developing laser systems that can wirelessly transmit electrical power and data between spacecraft, technology that could support space networks by allowing satellites to share power and communicate through optical links.
Pulse Space is among hundreds of companies selected for the Missile Defense Agency's SHIELD indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract, a broad procurement vehicle that allows vendors to compete for task orders supporting missile defense initiatives, including technologies expected to contribute to the Pentagon's Golden Dome missile defense architecture.
The latest award builds on earlier government backing for the company's technology. Pulse Space received a $1.9 million Small Business Innovation Research contract. According to its SBIR proposal, "our high-power laser systems enable long-range, precise beam transmission, overcoming challenges like atmospheric turbulence, platform constraints and weather."
As part of that proposal, the company outlined plans for a resilient network of low Earth orbit satellites equipped with high-power lasers capable of providing secure, high-bandwidth optical communications and transmitting energy between spacecraft.
Pulse Space also announced last year a partnership with Scout Space to demonstrate laser-enabled directed energy transmission between spacecraft, using optical lasers to beam energy from one spacecraft to another.
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