The contract targets the processing constraints of traditional solar-charging configurations. Pulse Space will use the funding to accelerate engineering, system testing, and operational deployment of its laser power and awareness platforms. An Air Force spokesperson quoted in related coverage said “Space Operational Energy is a growing focus for us.”
The company’s hardware architecture is designed to replace legacy radio frequency arrays with focused optical laser links. Its in-space power-beaming matrix uses specialized transmission modules to deliver high-efficiency remote power through focused infrared lasers, transmitting continuous energy to distant satellites so active payloads can recharge in orbit. The design aims to extend mission operations for recipient spacecraft by bypassing systemic battery degradation and local solar eclipse periods. The same optical terminal vectors are intended to carry long-distance space-to-space communications and high-resolution spatial awareness tracking.
The $40 million allocation reflects a shift in how the Department of Defense structures national security space acquisitions. Rather than routing high-value sensor and power programs exclusively through legacy aerospace primes, the Space Force is using fast-tracked procurement paths to harness commercial small-business innovation. The contracting vehicle relies on flexible transaction layers, including Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) protocols and Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements, structured to bypass traditional multi-year federal acquisition cycles. The mechanism operates in conjunction with the Air Force Research Laboratory to integrate venture-backed small satellite subsystems into the primary national defense architecture.
The capital injection allows Pulse Space to scale its dedicated engineering cleanrooms to support high-rate component manufacturing. “This historic $40 million award is a defining moment for Pulse Space, and I am exceptionally proud of our team for making it happen,” said Karl Stedman, CEO of Pulse Space. “We are honored to partner with the United States Space Force to mature our laser-based technologies and are proud to share this massive step forward with our investors and shareholders. Pulse’s technical development platform is helping pave the way toward that future.”
The company describes the award as a defining moment and the largest in its history. The Space Force’s Space Combat Power portfolio aims to deploy proliferated point-to-point energy nodes throughout low Earth orbit, providing a redundant, off-grid power layer capable of maintaining operational continuity for critical defense constellations amid rising spectrum and physical interception risks. A $40 million contract to a company few have heard of signals that the Pentagon is moving from study to hardware on power beaming.
The technology development roadmap schedules extensive subsystem qualification testing over the next eighteen months before integrating the laser assemblies onto active orbital testbeds. Progress toward those milestones will determine when the systems move from ground testing to on-orbit demonstration.
