Meta announced an agreement today to secure up to 1 GW of power capacity through Overview Energy’s planned solar power-beaming satellite system.
The deal comes amid AI’s rapid expansion, which has put a strain on terrestrial power grids. As large tech companies pour billions into new data centers, their energy needs are already equivalent to the entire power demand of Ireland in 2023, according to one estimate—and are expected to double or triple by 2028.
The explosive demand has forced many data-center operators to get creative about their power inputs. In January, Meta announced three deals to secure up to 6.6 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2035, and now the tech giant is turning its sights to space.
How it works: Founded in 2022, Overview Energy is building sunlight-collecting sats to extend the time existing terrestrial solar infrastructure can collect energy. Overview plans to operate in GEO—where they can remain in near-constant sunlight—and then beam power to solar facilities on Earth using near-infrared light.
The setup means that data-center operators who already rely on solar power don’t have to build unique hardware on the ground. Instead, the operators can maximize the amount of time their solar panels collect energy, by securing rays from solar-beaming satellites after dark.
Golden hour: In November, Overview demonstrated their power-beaming tech on a Cessna aircraft flying at 16,500 ft, and the company plans to fly a demo in LEO in 2028. From there, Overview expects to begin commercial power delivery from satellites in GEO in 2030.
Overview is backed by advisors such as former NASA administrators Jim Bridenstine and Mike Griffin, as well as former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chair Joseph Kelliher.
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Though the awards were announced last week, SSC shared that the other transition authority (OTA) agreements were actually awarded late last year and early this year. The 20 awards to 12 companies are worth up to $3.2B combined.
Context: President Donald Trump announced his intention, at the beginning of his second term, to build a missile-defense system to protect the US. Since then, the program has driven a flurry of interest and investment in the space industry—even though developments have mostly been happening behind closed doors, with both the administration and industry quiet on progress.
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