Zero Industries raises $3m for orbital laser power network

(SpaceEnergy) Zero Industries has raised $3m in pre-seed funding to develop Helios, a proposed orbital electricity network that would transmit solar-generated power between satellites using lasers.

The San Francisco-based company announced the completed financing on 22 October.

Maezawa Fund led the investment round, with participation from UntroD Capital Japan, NOW, Midtown and individual investors.

Zero Industries is developing three interconnected systems: Helios Beam, a solar-powered transmitting spacecraft; Helios Cell, a receiving module installed aboard customer satellites; and Helios Grid, software for managing electricity transmission.

The company intends to transmit electricity across distances of hundreds of kilometres and eventually supply multiple customer spacecraft simultaneously from a single transmitting satellite.

Potential customers include Earth observation satellites, orbital transfer vehicles and spacecraft servicing systems.

Zero Industries argues that external electricity supplies could allow satellite operators to reduce the mass allocated to onboard solar arrays and batteries.

The company is conducting joint research with Japan's Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries on laser power reception and transmission.

Planned work between autumn 2026 and spring 2027 includes evaluating receiving devices, demonstrating outdoor transmission over kilometre-scale distances and testing laser tracking of moving targets.

The company aims to begin orbital demonstrator design and environmental testing in the second half of 2027.

Its first satellite-to-satellite electricity transmission demonstration is targeted for 2030, with commercial deployment dependent on the results.

No completed orbital power-beaming demonstration, operational customer connection or measured end-to-end electrical efficiency has been disclosed.