Aetherflux, the space solar startup founded by Baiju Bhatt, the billionaire co-founder of Robinhood, has raised $50 million in a Series A round as it works to launch its first low Earth orbit demonstration in 2026.
The San Carlos, California-based startup, which came out of stealth last October, aims to eventually launch a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites that can collect and transmit solar energy directly to “ground stations” on Earth. It’s an idea that was initially triggered by Isaac Asimov’s 1941 short story “Reason.” Bhatt is focused on turning this science fiction-inspired concept into reality.
But first, Aetherflux needs to get a satellite to orbit to prove out the tech, to “demonstrate that we have made this transformative progress of going from humans not having power from space to, for the very first time, there being power from space for humans,” Bhatt, the startup’s founder and CEO, told TechCrunch.
At least, that’s the goal with next year’s launch, which will be supported by the fresh capital Aetherflux has raised. The round brings Aetherflux’s total funding to $60 million after Bhatt invested $10 million of his own funds into the company. The Series A round was led by Index Ventures and Interlagos, with participation from Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and NEA, as well as some other interesting names like Jared Leto rounding it out.
Bhatt, who joined us on the TechCrunch Equity podcast earlier this year, told TechCrunch that Aetherflux will use the funds to hire more engineers and invest in the technology and infrastructure needed for its first several missions.
“Our team is primarily focused right now on building the payload that sits on top of the bus … that takes all the power that the satellite bus generates and turns it into laser power,” Bhatt said.
Aetherflux is using Apex Space’s Aries satellite bus. A satellite bus is the core structure and system of a satellite that provides essential functions for its operation, like powe …