Space startups aim to test receiver for satellite-enabled lunar ‘power grid’

Firefly Aerospace’s lunar lander Blue Ghost will feature a LightPort wireless power receiver for future missions.

The lander is bound for the far side of the moon, meaning the power device could help illuminate the region during nights. Ultimately, the system could help power future lunar bases, making NASA’s vision of a permanent human presence on the moon a reality.

The new device, designed by Canadian aerospace startup Volta Space Technologies, will fly aboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander as part of a commercial payload agreement.

Firefly teams up with Volta to test lunar power network

Firefly Aerospace is the first commercial company to land and operate a spacecraft on the moon successfully. As part of its agreement with Volta Space Technologies, a LightPort wireless power receiver will be mounted atop the upper deck of Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander.

While companies like Aetherflux and Reflect Orbital are trying to make space-based solar power work on Earth, Volta Space Technologies’s goal is to power lunar spacecraft and infrastructure using solar-harvesting satellites.

As such, Volta Space Technologies’ LightGrid payload will join the race to establish a “power grid” on the moon, paving the way for future human habitats.

Volta’s proposed wireless system, LightGrid, integrates the company’s receivers, called LightPorts, into landers, rovers, and other space vehicles. The LightPorts receive solar power transmitted via lasers from orbiting satellites.

Volta has tested its system in both laboratory and field settings. According to the company, it transmitted energy over a distance of 2,789 feet (850 meters).

An ‘important step’ for the future of lunar infrastructure

Firefly plans to launch Blue Ghost to the moon’s south pole by the end of 2026. If that mission goes according to plan, one of Volta’s LightPort receivers will aim to capture a signal from an orbiting satellite. The demonstration would validate Volta’s technology.

“Partnering with Firefly on Blue Ghost Mission 2 is an important step forward for Volta and the future of lunar infrastructure,” Justin Zipkin, CEO of Volta, explained in a press statement. “This collaboration allows us to prove our LightPort receiver in a real lunar environment and move one step closer to delivering a fully integrated power grid for the Moon.”

If the system works, it would provide power, even during cold lunar nights, which can last the equivalent of 14 Earth days. Temperatures, meanwhile, can drop as low as -410 degrees Fahrenheit (-246 degrees Celsius).

Beaming solar power down to the lunar surface will be key to NASA’s plans to establish a permanent human presence there. The space agency is helping to mature various concepts. Aside from Volta’s LightGrid, for example, Astrobotic is developing a system called LunaGrid. This will connect several solar-power generating stations via transmission cables.