Tag: Solar power
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Kreios Space Advances VLEO Technology to Enable Long-Duration Satellite Missions
Kreios Space is developing a new generation of satellite technology designed to enable sustained operations in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO), approximately 200 km above Earth. The company’s platform combines an aerodynamically optimized satellite with a proprietary Air-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) system, allowing satellites to operate for more than seven years in an orbital region traditionally…
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Sophia Space and Caltech Receive U.S Patent for Space-Based Data Center Architecture
Sophia Space, a portfolio company of Mandala Space Ventures, has announced the issuance of U.S. Patent No. 12,679,564, titled “Space-Based Data Centers,” which is jointly owned by Sophia Space and Caltech. The patent, filed in October 2024 and issued on July 14, 2026, covered architectures for the implementation of large-scale, modular data centers in space.…
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SpaceX Unveils AI1 Orbital Computing Satellite Ahead of Planned IPO
SpaceX has revealed plans for a new satellite designed to function as a data center in orbit, marking a significant expansion beyond the company’s traditional focus on communications and launch services. The spacecraft, called AI1, is intended to serve as the first generation of a future constellation of computing satellites capable of processing artificial intelligence…
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Uncommon Thinkers: How Portal’s Jeff Thornburg plans to harness the heat of the sun in the cold of space
Portal Space Systems CEO Jeff Thornburg checks out the vacuum chamber where space hardware is tested. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) Editor’s note: This series profiles six of the Seattle region’s “Uncommon Thinkers”: inventors, scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs transforming industries and driving positive change in the world. They will be recognized Dec. 11 at the GeekWire Gala. Uncommon Thinkers is presented in…
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Jeff Bezos says orbital data centers will be the ‘next step’ for space ventures that make Earth better
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, speaks at Italian Tech Week 2025 in Turin. (Italian Tech Week via YouTube) What’s the next killer app for the final frontier? According to Jeff Bezos, it’s a future fleet of gigawatt data centers, flying in orbit and powered by sunlight. Bezos — who founded the…
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Portal Space Systems brings its solar thermal propulsion system up to full power during test
Portal’s heat exchanger thruster, known as Flare, fires up during a test in a vacuum chamber. (Portal Space Systems Photo) Bothell, Wash.-based Portal Space Systems says it has successfully tested its solar thermal propulsion system at operational temperatures inside a vacuum chamber, marking a first for the commercial space industry. The test marks a key…
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Portal Space Systems raises $17.5M for orbital spacecraft powered by solar heating
An artist’s conception shows the Supernova spacecraft in orbit. (Portal Space Systems Illustration) Bothell, Wash.-based Portal Space Systems says it has raised $17.5 million in seed funding to accelerate the development of its Supernova space vehicle, which aims to harness the heat of the sun to power rapid-response maneuvers in orbit. The oversubscribed investment round…
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Portal Space Systems opens its doors for a sneak preview of solar propulsion system
VIPs cut the ribbon at Portal Space Systems’ HQ in Bothell, Wash. From left: U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene; Portal co-founders Prashaanth Ravindran, Jeff Thornburg and Ian Vorbach; and Bothell Mayor Mason Thompson. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) BOTHELL, Wash. — From the outside, Portal Space Systems’ headquarters looks like a standard-issue office space in a…
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Portal Space Systems comes out of stealth with satellites that’ll be fired up by the sun
An artist’s conception shows Portal’s Supernova satellite bus in orbit, using a propulsion system that focuses sunlight on a heat exchanger to produce thrust. (Portal Space Systems Illustration) A Seattle-area startup called Portal Space Systems is emerging from stealth to share its vision for a type of satellite that’s apparently never been put into space…
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NASA gives Blue Origin $34.7M to work on technology for making solar cells on moon
The Blue Alchemist project aims to produce solar cells from lunar materials. (Blue Origin Photo) Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture has won $34.7 million in funding from NASA to support the development of a system that could produce solar cells on the moon from materials that are available on site. The Blue Alchemist project…