Mantis Space

Mantis Space is building a constellation intended to sell power to other satellites. Its spacecraft sit in lower medium Earth orbit where they remain almost continuously in sunlight, and beam energy by high-precision laser down to customer satellites passing through Earth's shadow, which absorb it using the solar arrays they already carry.

The appeal is that eclipse periods force satellite designers to carry batteries sized for the dark portion of every orbit, a significant mass and cost penalty. Chief executive Eric Truitt says that by tuning laser wavelength to the absorption peaks of the target's solar cells, the delivered energy converts 20 to 30 percent more efficiently than raw sunlight.

The company was founded in 2025 by Truitt and emerged from stealth in March 2026 with a $10 million seed round co-led by Rule 1 Ventures and Montauk Capital, which incubated it in its venture studio. New Mexico and the city of Albuquerque awarded roughly $24 million toward a 2,000 square metre headquarters and manufacturing hub there. A prototype payload and on-orbit customer demonstration are targeted for 2028.