Volta Space Technologies

Volta Space Technologies, headquartered in Montreal, Canada and founded in 2020, is developing LightGrid — a constellation of satellites in lunar orbit designed to beam solar power to the lunar surface via laser, providing continuous electrical power to spacecraft, rovers, and eventually habitats during the two-week-long lunar night that kills solar-powered surface assets and severely limits mission capabilities in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) at the lunar poles.

The lunar night problem is one of the most fundamental challenges for sustained lunar surface operations: the Moon's rotation rate means that most surface locations experience 14 Earth-day-long periods of complete darkness during which solar panels cannot generate power. Landing Chinese Chang'e landers have lost contact during lunar nights; NASA's MSFC studies show that lunar night survival requires either heavy nuclear batteries (RTGs), large thermal energy storage systems, or external power delivery. Volta Space's LightGrid addresses this with orbital power beaming: satellites in near-lunar orbit remain in continuous sunlight (except brief lunar eclipses) and convert solar energy to laser beams directed at photovoltaic receivers on the lunar surface, transmitting power through the vacuum with minimal propagation loss to surface assets that need it.

Permanently shadowed craters at the lunar south pole — where NASA's Artemis program and multiple international programs target for human bases due to water ice deposits — receive sunlight only on elevated rim areas, not inside the crater where the ice deposits and future habitats would be located. LightGrid satellites can shine laser power beams into these shadowed craters from orbital positions that maintain line-of-sight to the crater floor, enabling ice mining robots and habitat systems inside PSRs to operate continuously.

Volta Space has received early-stage grant funding from NASA (SBIR/STTR programs), ESA (Open Space Innovation Platform), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), validating the technical approach and mission relevance. The company is backed by MaC Venture Capital and additional investors. Volta Space competes conceptually with space-based solar power (SBSP) proposals (which target Earth rather than the Moon) and nuclear power alternatives like NASA's Fission Surface Power (FSP) program.