---
type: source
title: "Aetherflux 2026 SBSP demo: Falcon 9 Transporter rideshare booked, DoD venture funds awarded before commercial revenue"
author: "TechCrunch / Aetherflux"
url: https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/02/space-solar-startup-aetherflux-raises-50m-to-launch-first-space-demo-in-2026/
date: 2025-04-02
domain: space-development
secondary_domains: [energy]
format: thread
status: unprocessed
priority: medium
tags: [Aetherflux, SBSP, space-based-solar-power, DoD-funding, Falcon9, Apex-bus, ODC, Galactic-Brain, dual-use, defense-demand]
---

## Content

**Source:** TechCrunch Series A coverage (April 2025) + supplemental findings from April 2026 session

**Aetherflux 2026 SBSP demonstration mission:**
- Vehicle: SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter rideshare (booked)
- Bus: Apex Space satellite bus (purchased from Los Angeles-based manufacturer)
- Mission: "kilowatt-class" spacecraft to beam power using infrared laser with 10-meter spot size at ground receiver
- Demo: wireless power transmission from LEO to ground using infrared lasers
- Target date: 2026 (Transporter rideshare)

**DoD funding:**
- The Department of Defense has awarded Aetherflux **venture funds for a proof-of-concept demonstration** of power transmission from LEO
- This is pre-commercial, pre-revenue defense investment in the underlying SBSP technology

**Company financial context (as of April 2026):**
- Total raised to date: ~$80 million
- Series B in negotiation: $250-350M at $2B valuation, led by Index Ventures
- Galactic Brain project: orbital data center targeting Q1 2027 commercial operation

**Aetherflux's technology approach:**
- LEO satellites (not GEO megastructures) with continuous solar exposure
- Power transmission via infrared laser (not microwave)
- Near-term use case: power Aetherflux's own orbital AI compute (ODC use case)
- Long-term use case: beam power to Earth (SBSP use case) or to forward operating locations (defense use case)

**Context from CEO Baiju Bhatt:**
- "About a year ago" (circa late 2024) the team realized powering AI workloads by placing compute in orbit and feeding via space-based solar power is "more economically attractive" than transmitting energy to terrestrial facilities
- This is the genesis of the ODC pivot: the same physical system (laser power + LEO solar) serves both use cases

## Agent Notes
**Why this matters:** The DoD venture fund award to Aetherflux for SBSP proof-of-concept is evidence that defense demand for the underlying technology (infrared power transmission from LEO) exists BEFORE commercial revenue. This fits the Gate 2B-Defense pattern observed in the ODC sector more broadly: defense paying for proof-of-concept development while commercial investors (Index Ventures) simultaneously back the commercial application. Aetherflux is therefore receiving parallel funding from two distinct demand tracks — defense (SBSP proof-of-concept) and commercial (ODC compute via Series B). The 2026 Falcon 9 Transporter rideshare demo, if it launches, will be funded by both the $50M Series A and DoD venture funds. This is the defense-commercial co-development pattern at company scale.

**What surprised me:** The infrared laser power transmission technology serves both use cases with the same physical hardware. DoD interest in "power transmission from LEO" makes immediate sense for forward operating locations: remote military installations with no reliable grid access could receive beamed power from LEO. This is not the same as SBSP for civilian energy markets — it's a military logistics application. If this use case is compelling to DoD, Aetherflux's defense revenue stream could be independent of and earlier than both civilian SBSP and commercial ODC revenue.

**What I expected but didn't find:** The scale of DoD venture fund award. "Venture funds" suggests SBIR/STTR style funding ($50K-$2M range typically), not a major procurement contract. This is consistent with Gate 0 (R&D validation) rather than Gate 2B-Defense (operational demand). Need to find whether DoD has awarded larger contracts for actual LEO power transmission demonstrations.

**KB connections:**
- [[the space manufacturing killer app sequence is pharmaceuticals now ZBLAN fiber in 3-5 years and bioprinted organs in 15-25 years each catalyzing the next tier of orbital infrastructure]] — Aetherflux's ODC (near-term) → SBSP (long-term) sequence is a version of the same "killer app bootstraps infrastructure" pattern
- [[self-sufficient colony technologies are inherently dual-use because closed-loop systems required for space habitation directly reduce terrestrial environmental impact]] — Aetherflux's SBSP-ODC architecture is the energy sector's version of dual-use: space power infrastructure serves both orbital operations and terrestrial energy delivery

**Extraction hints:**
1. "Aetherflux's orbital data center (Galactic Brain) and space-based solar power (SBSP) projects share the same physical infrastructure — LEO satellites with continuous solar exposure and infrared laser transmission — making ODC the near-term revenue case and SBSP the long-term value case for a single satellite architecture" (confidence: likely — directly evidenced by CEO statements and program documentation)
2. "Defense Department venture funding for Aetherflux's LEO power transmission proof-of-concept (pre-commercial, pre-revenue) follows the Gate 0 defense validation pattern — DoD funding technology development before commercial market exists, creating technology de-risking that accelerates commercial investment timeline" (confidence: experimental — DoD funding documented; scale and specific program not confirmed)

**Context:** TechCrunch covered the Series A in April 2025 when Aetherflux was primarily an SBSP company. The ODC framing (Galactic Brain) emerged in December 2025. The DoD venture fund award timing is not specified — it may have been awarded before or after the ODC pivot. If before, DoD was interested in SBSP for military energy logistics; if after, DoD is interested in both SBSP and ODC for military applications. Either interpretation supports the defense demand pattern.

## Curator Notes
PRIMARY CONNECTION: The April 1 archive (defense-sovereign-odc-demand-formation.md) established the Gate 0 defense demand pattern. This source adds Aetherflux as a specific company receiving DoD venture funding and confirms the 2026 Falcon 9 Transporter demo is real.
WHY ARCHIVED: DoD venture funding for SBSP proof-of-concept is new evidence for Pattern 12 (national security demand floor) applied to the energy domain. Also confirms the SBSP-ODC bridge claim (first formulated April 2 session) with new evidence: the 2026 SBSP demo is funded and scheduled.
EXTRACTION HINT: Two extraction targets: (1) Aetherflux dual-use architecture claim (ODC + SBSP sharing same physical infrastructure) — confidence: likely. (2) DoD venture funding as Gate 0 evidence for SBSP-ODC sector — confidence: experimental. Flag for energy domain as well as space-development.
