Turin-based aerospace startup ORiS has secured €5 million to build the first wireless orbital power grid. The funding will accelerate their “Power-as-a-Service” satellite constellation, a system designed to beam energy directly to client spacecraft using high-intensity lasers.
The deep-tech venture, founded by four Politecnico di Torino graduates and incubated at ESA BIC Turin, aims to eliminate the aerospace industry’s heavy reliance on massive solar panels. By offloading energy generation to dedicated orbital power plants, client satellites can shed weight and drastically extend their mission endurance.
The financial package consists of a €0.5 million grant from the Piedmont Region and a €4.5 million private investment. That private round was led by Earlybird and Pitchdrive, according to Tech Funding News. This capital moves their technology from terrestrial prototypes to actual space deployments. The startup recently completed a physical demonstration on Earth through NATO’s DIANA defence accelerator, where they successfully beamed electricity to a hovering stealth drone.
ORiS is now preparing to test this architecture in the vacuum of space. The startup is officially scheduled for Dcubed’s ARAQYS-D3 mission to validate end-to-end wireless power transmission in orbit. The underlying concept first gained traction when the team won a Proof of Concept grant during the Telespazio #T-TeC 2022 competition. That early win funded their transition from academic simulations to laboratory testing.
Star Catcher Rivalry Accelerates the Space Utility Race
The €5 million round puts ORiS on a direct collision course with heavily backed American competitors. US-based Star Catcher raised $65 million in May 2026 for a nearly identical power-beaming initiative. The rush to commercialize space utilities is driven by the soaring energy demands of orbital computing nodes and military logistics networks. As satellite payloads become increasingly power-hungry, the first company to successfully deploy a reliable laser power grid will effectively control the charging infrastructure for the next era of space exploration.