On-Orbit Precision Acquisition and Tracking Demonstrated by Star Catcher
Sextant Alpha Mission Validated the Key Precision Tracking and Pointing Capabilities
Sextant Alpha, a mission completed by Star Catcher late last year, successfully demonstrated the company’s proprietary spacecraft acquisition and tracking software on-orbit at distances representative of commercial power beaming operations.
The Star Catcher Network is being designed to transmit power wirelessly to client satellites with seamless compatibility across existing satellite systems, enabling up to 10x more power generation than onboard systems alone. The grid works by collecting and concentrating diffuse sunlight, refining it into wavelengths optimized for standard satellite solar panels, and beaming it precisely to client satellites.
Flying aboard Loft Orbital’s virtual mission infrastructure, Sextant Alpha validated the key precision tracking and pointing capabilities that underpin our orbital power grid’s wireless energy transmission.
Sextant Alpha is one of three major demonstrations Star Catcher completed in 2025, proving each core pillar of the company’s technology stack:
Sunlight collection and concentration via lightweight, low-cost Fresnel lenses
Record-breaking wireless power transmission to commercial off-the-shelf single- and triple-junction solar panels commonly used in space
Precision spacecraft tracking and pointing using on-orbit software to ingest telemetry of two spacecraft and control spacecraft attitude
After a year of intensive ground and in-space technology development, validating energy harvesting, tracking, and transmission, Star Catcher is now focused on demonstrating full-system functionality in orbit. The team is taking a deliberate hardware-rich, crawl-walk-run approach to validate the ownership of our tech stack in space, working towards the first commercial light in space.