# DIU Seeks Space Power-Beaming Prototype for Operational Use by 2030 **URL:** \ **Category:** US Defense News\ **Created:** [July 17, 2026, 2:29pm UTC](https://forum.landoffset.com/t/diu-seeks-space-power-beaming-prototype-for-operational-use-by-2030/1212 "2026-07-17T14:29:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://forum.landoffset.com/uploads/default/original/1X/461c3fb699fff9afe9dbc43189d999b5fa0580cb.png) [@system](https://forum.landoffset.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 2:29pm UTC](https://forum.landoffset.com/t/diu-seeks-space-power-beaming-prototype-for-operational-use-by-2030/1212/1 "2026-07-17T14:29:03Z")
The Defense Innovation Unit is asking commercial companies to demonstrate systems that can beam electrical power between spacecraft and from orbit to Earth, moving a long-running military research field toward a near-term low-Earth-orbit prototype. The [Space Power Beaming solicitation](https://www.diu.mil/work-with-us/submit-solution/PROJ00685) calls for technology that can transmit power to satellites operating as high as 1,200 kilometers and deliver energy to receivers on the ground. DIU wants laboratory demonstrations within a year of award and a decision on orbital demonstrations within 24 months. The Pentagon intends the prototypes to lead to an operational capability by fiscal 2030. DIU describes the desired end state as on-demand access to power beaming for missions that could include edge computing, in-space manufacturing, forward operating locations and unmanned systems. Space strategist Peter Garretson [called the solicitation an “exciting shift” on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/petergarretson_now-this-is-an-exciting-shift-in-the-winds-share-7483322793858580481-T6PQ/). He said he has tried to build Defense Department interest in space power beaming since 2006. Garretson’s public writing documents years of advocacy, though it does not independently establish that starting date. In a [2012 Air University article](https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/SSQ/documents/Volume-06_Issue-1/Garretson.pdf?ver=2017-01-23-115910-900), he argued that the United States should consider space-based solar power as part of its broader space strategy while acknowledging the concept’s immense engineering scale, launch burden and cost uncertainty. The new solicitation does not mean the Pentagon is entering power beaming for the first time. The Air Force Research Laboratory has spent years on the [Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstrations and Research project](https://afresearchlab.com/space-power-beaming/), known as SSPIDR. SSPIDR has focused on the enabling technologies for collecting solar energy in space, converting it to radio frequency and directing it to a rectifying antenna. AFRL identified six major challenges: deployable structures, energy generation, thermal management, distributed control, radio-frequency beaming and beam-forming metrology. The Air Force said in 2019 that Northrop Grumman had received a [contract valued at more than $100 million](https://www.kirtland.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1997819/us-air-force-research-laboratory-developing-space-solar-power-beaming/) to develop experimental hardware for SSPIDR. The program’s planned demonstrations included thermal materials, deployable structures and Arachne, an orbital experiment intended to collect solar energy, convert it to radio frequency and beam it to a ground receiver. Public AFRL material still lists planned dates that have passed. It does not establish that Arachne completed an orbital demonstration, so the earlier program should not be treated as a fielded capability. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has separately advanced terrestrial power beaming. In 2025, DARPA’s [Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay program](https://www.darpa.mil/news/2025/darpa-program-distance-record-power-beaming) delivered more than 800 watts over 8.6 kilometers for 30 seconds during a ground test in New Mexico. DARPA reported more than 20% laser-to-electricity efficiency at shorter distances, though it said efficiency was not the main objective of the demonstration. The test reduced risk for long-distance optical transmission through the atmosphere but did not demonstrate an orbital power network. DIU’s four lines of effort cover complete space-to-space transmitters, complete space-to-ground transmitters, receivers and next-generation components. The first two are the government’s primary areas of interest. Vendors may address one or more lines in a single submission. DIU requires them to measure delivered energy, minimize the beam area at the receiver and use existing technology where possible to reduce cost and speed an orbital demonstration. For the component line, proposed technology must already be at Technology Readiness Level 5 or higher. Vendors must present a path to TRL 6 or higher by the orbital demonstration and complete a component-level laboratory test within six months of award. DIU also wants low latency between power transfers, scalable power levels and compatibility with existing systems without specialized receivers. Those are desired attributes rather than minimum requirements. The opportunity is open to U.S. and international companies. It uses DIU’s Commercial Solutions Opening and prototype Other Transaction process, which generally requires meaningful participation by a nontraditional contractor, an all-small-business or nontraditional team or private funding equal to at least one-third of project cost. A successful prototype could lead directly to a follow-on production contract without a new competition under federal Other Transaction authority. No award value appears in the solicitation. Responses are due July 22 at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern, with second-phase pitches planned for the week of Aug. 3. [Independent defense reporting](https://insidedefense.com/insider/pentagon-seeking-demonstration-ready-long-range-space-power-technology) confirms that DIU is prioritizing demonstration-ready systems and an operational path rather than another stand-alone concept study. That acquisition structure explains Garretson’s reaction. The shift is not a sudden discovery of wireless power transmission. It is a move from component research and limited ground demonstrations toward commercially assembled systems, a defined orbital schedule and an explicit fiscal 2030 operational target. The solicitation remains an invitation to propose solutions, not a contract award or proof that the military can operate a safe, efficient power-beaming network at orbital ranges. Vendors still must demonstrate beam control, conversion efficiency, thermal management, receiver integration and military utility before the concept can become an operational service. _AI generated_