ORiS has secured €5 million in funding to develop laser-based wireless power transmission systems for satellites and other space applications. The financing includes a €4.5 million pre-seed round led by Earlybird and co-led by Pitchdrive, with participation from Galaxia, Vento and Piemonte Next Fund.
The Turin, Italy-based company also received a €500,000 grant through the Piedmont Region’s program supporting the capitalization and growth of innovative startups. ORiS described the financing as one of the largest pre-seed rounds completed by a space technology company globally.
ORiS is developing an in-orbit energy distribution grid that would allow satellites to receive additional power while operating in space. Its technology uses lasers to transmit energy wirelessly between a power source and a receiving spacecraft.
The company believes access to supplemental energy could allow satellite operators to use payloads more frequently, maintain operations during eclipse periods and extend missions as onboard solar panels degrade. Future spacecraft could also be designed around access to energy as an external service rather than depending entirely on the power generated and stored onboard.
ORiS intends to use the funding to expand its technical team and accelerate research and development involving critical subsystems. The capital will also support new laboratory and clean-room facilities and the development of flight-ready hardware for an upcoming satellite-to-satellite demonstration.
The company expects to deliver a flight model by the end of July for its first in-orbit mission with DCUBED. The demonstration, planned for 2027, is intended to transmit power wirelessly across a distance of 10 meters between spacecraft.
ORiS combines expertise in high-power lasers, pointing systems, detection and tracking, and thermal control. These capabilities are needed to direct energy accurately toward a moving receiver while managing heat and maintaining system performance in demanding operating conditions.
The company is also validating its technology through LOONA, a wireless recharging platform for drones developed through the NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic program. ORiS has demonstrated wireless power transmission to a hovering drone at a distance of more than 100 meters.
LOONA provides a terrestrial test environment for technologies that ORiS ultimately plans to deploy in space. The company is advancing the platform from a prototype toward a dual-use product that could support applications where conventional wired charging or frequent battery replacement is impractical.
The dual-use strategy is intended to provide ORiS with a faster route to technical validation and commercial activity while it develops orbital infrastructure. The company plans to apply its wireless power capabilities across terrestrial systems, low Earth orbit and future lunar operations.
For lunar applications, ORiS is exploring the delivery of energy to surface equipment such as rovers. The team previously conducted a feasibility study involving this potential use case for Thales Alenia Space.
Founded in 2024, ORiS emerged from Politecnico di Torino and is supported by the university’s I3P Incubator and the European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre Turin program. The company was founded by aerospace engineers Andrea Villa, Anna Mauro, Domenico Edoardo Sfasciamuro and Francesco Lopez.
The funding will help ORiS move from prototypes and subsystem development toward flight hardware and commercial products. Its longer-term objective is to make energy available as an on-demand service in orbit, supporting more powerful, longer-lasting and reusable space systems.
KEY QUOTES:
“ORiS’ vision is to support the disruptive growth of the space economy by reshaping the standard for how satellites are designed and operated. We want to optimize satellites for high performance and profitability. Our first step is to make energy in orbit a commodity, available at any time, just as we are used to here on Earth.”
Andrea Villa, CEO and Co-Founder of ORiS
“The next wave of space innovation will depend not only on better satellites, but on the infrastructure that enables them to operate more effectively. ORiS is building critical energy infrastructure for orbit, and we believe this has the potential to become a foundational capability for the future space economy.”
Dr. Frédéric du Bois-Reymond, Venture Partner at Earlybird
“ORiS’ dual-use roadmap combines near-term validation with an ambitious vision for the future. LOONA gives the company a faster path to validating its core wireless power technology and building commercial momentum, while supporting its broader vision of making energy more accessible in space.”
Koen Christiaens, Managing Partner at Pitchdrive
