ORiS Raises €5 Million to Build the Space Economy's Future In-Orbit Energy Grid
The next frontier of the space economy isn't just bigger satellites or more launches—it's reliable access to energy. Italian deep-tech startup ORiS believes that satellites should one day recharge in orbit just as easily as electric vehicles recharge on Earth. Backed by €5 million ($5.7 million) in newly secured funding, the company is taking a major step toward making that vision a reality.
The Turin-based startup has completed one of the world's largest space-focused pre-seed funding rounds, securing €4.5 million led by Earlybird and co-led by Pitchdrive, with additional participation from Galaxia, Vento, and Piemonte Next Fund. ORiS also received a €500,000 regional innovation grant, bringing its total recent funding to €5 million.
The investment will accelerate development of ORiS' laser-based wireless power transmission (WPT) technology, which is designed to enable satellites to receive additional energy directly in orbit without relying solely on onboard solar arrays and batteries.
Building the Energy Infrastructure for Tomorrow's Satellites
As satellites become increasingly sophisticated, so do their energy demands. Higher-powered communications payloads, advanced sensors, onboard artificial intelligence, and autonomous mission capabilities are pushing traditional spacecraft power systems to their limits.
ORiS is developing an orbital energy distribution concept that could fundamentally change how satellites are designed and operated.
Instead of depending entirely on their own power generation systems, future spacecraft could receive supplemental energy from dedicated wireless power sources while already in orbit. Such a capability could allow operators to increase payload usage, continue operations during eclipse periods, extend mission lifetimes as solar panels degrade, and ultimately reduce many of the design constraints imposed by today's power limitations.
According to ORiS CEO and co-founder Andrea Villa, the company's long-term goal is to make energy in orbit as readily available as electricity on Earth, enabling satellite operators to maximize both performance and commercial value.
Investors See Energy as the Next Critical Space Infrastructure
The investment reflects growing confidence that future space infrastructure will extend far beyond launch services and satellite manufacturing.
Dr. Frédéric du Bois-Reymond, Venture Partner at Earlybird, said the next generation of space innovation will depend on infrastructure that enables spacecraft to operate more efficiently, describing ORiS' technology as a potential foundational capability for the future orbital economy.
Rather than focusing solely on building satellites, ORiS is targeting one of the industry's most fundamental challenges: delivering energy where and when it is needed.
Dual-Use Technology Already Being Proven on Earth
While its long-term objective is satellite-to-satellite power transfer in orbit, ORiS is already validating its technology through LOONA, a wireless charging platform for drones developed within NATO's DIANA accelerator program.
The company has successfully demonstrated laser-based wireless power transmission to a hovering drone at distances exceeding 100 meters, providing an important terrestrial testbed for the same core technology intended for future space missions.
According to Pitchdrive Managing Partner Koen Christiaens, this dual-use strategy enables ORiS to validate its technology more rapidly while building commercial momentum in defense and industrial markets before expanding into orbital applications.
Beyond Earth orbit, ORiS is also exploring wireless power transmission for future lunar infrastructure, including energy delivery to robotic rovers. The company has already completed a feasibility study for Thales Alenia Space focused on lunar surface power applications.
Preparing for an Orbital Demonstration
The newly raised capital will support aggressive expansion across multiple areas of the business.
ORiS plans to hire additional engineers, accelerate research on critical wireless power transmission subsystems, expand laboratory and clean-room facilities, and continue development of its flight hardware.
By the end of July, the company expects to deliver the flight model for its first satellite-to-satellite wireless power transmission mission with DCUBED. The in-orbit demonstration, scheduled for 2027, aims to validate laser-based wireless energy transfer across a distance of approximately 10 meters between spacecraft.
If successful, the mission could represent one of Europe's earliest demonstrations of orbital wireless power transmission and provide an important milestone toward building future space-based energy infrastructure.
As commercial space activity accelerates and spacecraft become increasingly power-intensive, technologies that enable energy sharing and distribution in orbit could become as essential as communications networks are today. With fresh funding and an ambitious development roadmap, ORiS is positioning itself at the forefront of what could become one of the next foundational capabilities of the global space economy.
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