本周发射的这颗卫星名为“原恒星”（Protostar），是 Star Catcher 公司最终希望部署的卫星的小型版本。拉什（Rush）表示，该卫星将“在本世纪末之前在轨道上提供有意义的商业电力供应服务”。但这将是整个系统首次在太空中进行整合，该公司将利用其跟踪技术，向同时发射的一颗未连接的立方星（cubesat）输送能量。
The satellite launching this week, dubbed Protostar, is a small-scale version of the satellites Star Catcher hopes to eventually deploy that Rush says will provide “meaningful commercial power provisioning services in orbit before the end of the decade.”But it’ll be the first time the entire system comes together in space, with the company using its tracking technology to beam energy to an untethered cubesat that’s launching at the same time.
“此次演示的一部分是测试立方星在远离‘原恒星’时接收到的电量，并将其与我们的模型进行对比，”拉什说道。
“Part of this demonstration is testing how much power is received by the cubesat as it moves away from Protostar and comparing that against our models,” says Rush.
该公司此前已对其技术进行过太空测试，该技术使其能够跟踪正在接收能量的卫星；去年，该公司还在地面输电测试中创下了纪录，打破了美国国防高级研究计划局（DARPA）此前保持的记录。
The company has done a space-based test of its technology that would allow it to track satellites it’s transmitting energy to, and it set a record last year for beaming power on the ground, besting a mark set by DARPA.
那次测试向现成的太阳能电池板输送了超过 1 千瓦的电力——足以驱动一台微波炉。这意味着要为电信卫星供电，更不用说太空数据中心，还有很长的路要走，但拉什表示，地面的概念验证让他有信心让公司在轨道上进行尝试。他说，Star Catcher 目前仍处于“爬行”阶段，但正在向行走和奔跑迈进。
That test delivered more than 1 kilowatt of power to off-the-shelf solar panels—enough juice to power a microwave. That means there’s a ways to go to power telecommunications satellites, let alone space-based data centers, but Rush says the proof-of-concept on the ground is what gives him confidence that the company is ready to see what it can do in orbit. He says Star Catcher is still in the “crawl” phase but on its way to walking, then running.
这并非首次在太空中进行激光测试。美国海军研究实验室曾在 2023 年完成了一项实验，利用太空激光器进行了 100 天的发电运行。然而，该系统是一个单一单元，光束传输距离不到 5 英尺。（如果说 Star Catcher 正在学习爬行，那么这项实验就相当于婴儿的俯卧抬头练习。）该激光器的运行效率仅为 11%，法塔希（Fattahi）表示，这是一个需要克服的问题。她还指出，要使太空激光器在经济上可行，还需要解决跟踪系统、热量管理以及确保设备能在寒冷的太空真空中运行多年等问题。
This won’t be the first test of lasers in space. The Naval Research Laboratory completed an experiment in 2023, operating a space laser to generate power for 100 days. However, the system was a single unit, and the beam traveled less than 5 feet. (If Star Catcher is working on crawling, then this experiment was akin to tummy time.) That laser only operated with 11 percent efficiency, an issue Fattahi says will need to be overcome. She also says tracking systems, managing heat, and ensuring equipment can operate in the cold vacuum of space for years also need to be teased out to make space-based lasers economically viable.
研究人员还探索了其他形式的太空太阳能，包括加州理工学院科学家成功进行的通过微波向地球传输太阳能的测试。该技术能够传输更多能量，但需要巨大的接收器来捕获它，而激光则可以瞄准小得多的目标。
Researchers have also explored other forms space-based solar including successful tests by Caltech scientists to transmit solar power via microwaves back to Earth. That technique can transmit more energy, but it requires a massive receiver to harness it, whereas lasers can hit a much smaller target.
拉什在谈到“星捕手”（Star Catcher）的卫星时表示：“随着我们在太空中建设基础设施，我们开始使在太空中部署更大、能力更强的产业变得更加经济。我认为我们正在构建的东西对于太空行业而言，就如同可重复使用运载火箭一样具有变革性。”
“As we grow the infrastructure in space,” Rush says of Star Catcher’s satellites, “we begin to make it more economical to put larger and more capable industry in space. I view what we're building as transformational for the space sector as reusable launch vehicles.”