Space companies are preparing to test a new kind of power receiver on the Moon that is designed to plug into a future orbital energy network instead of local solar panels and batteries. The experiment, riding on a commercial lander to the lunar far side, is meant to show that a small device can capture beamed power from satellites and turn it into usable electricity for surface hardware. If it works, the technology could become the backbone of a satellite power grid that keeps lunar robots and, eventually, human bases running through the two-week night.
Rather than treating power as an afterthought, the startups behind the demo are betting that energy distribution will be the first real utility business in deep space. I see this as a shift from one-off missions toward infrastructure thinking, where a standardized receiver on the ground connects to a shared network in orbit, much like a smartphone tapping into a cellular grid.
Why a lunar power grid is suddenly on the table
The push for a lunar power grid is emerging from a simple constraint: the Moon is a harsh place to keep anything alive for long. The lunar night lasts roughly fourteen Earth days, temperatures plunge, and the far side never sees direct radio contact with Earth, which makes continuous power even more critical. As NASA talks about a permanent human presence on the Moon, the agency’s long-term plans depend on reliable energy that does not vanish every time the Sun dips below the horizon, and that is the gap a satellite-based system is trying to fill.
Space startups are now positioning themselves as the utilities that could supply that energy from orbit, using constellations of solar-powered satellites to beam light or radio frequency power down to the surface. One concept envisions a solar satellite network that could provide illumination and electricity for missions on the lunar far side, supporting landers and rovers that would otherwise shut down in the dark, and ultimately helping power future lunar bases that align with NASA’s vision of a permanent human presence on the Moon.
Blue Ghost Mission 2 as the testbed
To turn that vision into hardware, the startups need a place to fly their first receivers, and Firefly Aerospace has stepped into that role with its Blue Ghost lunar lander. The company’s second mission, known as Blue Ghost Mission 2, is being built as a multi-customer platform that will carry scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to the Moon, including payloads bound for the far side. By treating the lander as a shared bus, Firefly is effectively offering a testbed where new infrastructure concepts can be tried out in the real lunar environment rather than in simulations.
Firefly describes Blue Ghost Mission 2 as a follow-on to its initial lander flight, with a manifest that includes a mix of government and commercial payloads integrated across the spacecraft. The mission profile highlights how the lander’s top deck and internal bays are being reserved for experiments that need exposure to the lunar surface, and among those is a dedicated spot for a wireless power technology package. In that context, the mission page for Blue Ghost frames the lander as a key stepping stone for companies that want to validate infrastructure for long-duration operations on the Moon.
Volta’s Wireless Power Receiver and the LightPort hardware
The central piece of hardware in this story is Volta Space Technologies’ Wireless Power Receiver, a compact device designed to sit on the lunar surface and convert beamed energy into electrical power. Volta refers to the receiver unit as LightPort, and the company’s goal is to make LightPort a standard interface that any lander, rover, or habitat can bolt on to tap into an orbital power grid. Instead of each mission hauling oversized solar arrays and batteries, a LightPort-equipped system could, in theory, subscribe to power delivered from satellites overhead.
On Blue Ghost Mission 2, Volta’s Wireless Power Receiver is being physically integrated into the lander’s structure so it can operate in realistic conditions. Firefly notes that the LightPort hardware will be installed on Blue Ghost’s top deck, giving it a clear view of the sky and the right geometry to receive beamed energy on the lunar far side. The mission description specifies that Volta’s Wireless Power Receiver, branded as LightPort, will be integrated on Blue Ghost’s top deck to demonstrate how a surface receiver could plug into a future power network on the far side of the Moon.
Inside the Firefly–Volta partnership
Behind the hardware integration is a formal partnership between Firefly and Volta that treats lunar power as a shared commercial opportunity rather than a one-off experiment. Firefly Aerospace Partners with Volta Space Technologies for Lunar Power Demonstration on Blue Ghost Mission 2, positioning the lander provider and the power startup as co-developers of a new kind of infrastructure service. I see this as a sign that lander companies are starting to think beyond transportation, toward recurring revenue from utilities like power and communications.
The partnership announcement describes how Firefly Aerospace Partners with Volta Space Technologies for Lunar Power Demonstration on Blue Ghost Mission 2, with the companies emphasizing that the demo is a step toward scalable power distribution systems on the Moon. In that framing, Firefly is not just selling a ride but collaborating on a technology that could support multiple customers in the future, and Volta is using the mission to validate its LightPort receiver as a building block for lunar power distribution systems on the Moon, as highlighted in the Firefly Aerospace Partners coverage.
LightGrid: turning receivers into a lunar utility
The receiver on Blue Ghost is only one half of Volta’s plan; the other half is a proposed wireless power grid that would connect multiple receivers into a coherent system. Volta is calling its proposed wireless system LightGrid, a network concept in which orbiting assets beam energy down to a constellation of LightPorts on the surface. In that model, the Wireless Power Receiver on Blue Ghost Mission 2 is a prototype customer node, showing that a lander can join the grid and draw power as needed.
Reporting on the company’s roadmap notes that Volta is calling its proposed wireless system LightGrid and that they claim it would work by integrating LightPorts, the receivers, into landers and surface infrastructure so they can tap into beamed power. Energy experts who have looked at the concept describe it as a lunar analog to terrestrial power distribution, only with satellites and wireless links instead of wires, and the description of how Volta and They envision LightGrid operating is captured in coverage of wireless power grids heading to the Moon.
How the Blue Ghost demo fits into a broader space power race
The Volta–Firefly experiment is part of a wider race among startups to turn space-based power from a science project into a business. Some companies are focused on beaming energy from orbit down to Earth, while others, like Volta, are concentrating on space-to-space and space-to-surface links that support exploration. The common thread is the idea that whoever masters efficient, reliable power beaming will control a critical layer of infrastructure for both lunar and terrestrial markets.
One example on the Earth-facing side is Aetherflux, a company working on Space-to-Earth power beaming that plans a 100-satellite constellation to deliver energy from orbit. Aetherflux, founded by Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt, is planning a 100-satellite low Earth orbit network to test how space-based solar power could feed terrestrial grids, illustrating how Aetherflux, Space, Earth, Robinhood, and Baiju Bhatt are part of the same ecosystem of companies trying to commercialize orbital energy, as detailed in a report on four startups racing to make space-based power a reality.
Why the lunar far side is the proving ground
The choice to test Volta’s receiver on the lunar far side is not just a marketing flourish; it is a stress test for the technology. The far side never faces Earth, which means no direct line-of-sight communications and no easy relay for traditional power management. Any lander operating there must be more autonomous and more resilient, and a wireless power receiver that can function in that environment would be a strong proof point for a future grid.
Blue Ghost Mission 2 is being configured to support that kind of demonstration, with the lander carrying payloads that are specifically tailored to far side operations. Firefly’s description of the mission notes that the Volta hardware will be positioned to receive power in conditions representative of a far side deployment, and that the Wireless Power Receiver on the top deck is meant to show how a lander could plug into a remote energy source when local solar is not enough. The mission’s focus on the far side aligns with broader concepts for a solar satellite network that could provide light and power for lunar far side missions, which is the same environment where space startups aim to test a receiver on the surface of Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander, as described in the solar satellite network coverage.
From one demo to lasting lunar infrastructure
For Volta, the Blue Ghost flight is framed as more than a one-off experiment; it is a milestone on the way to building lasting infrastructure on the Moon. Company leaders describe partnering with Firefly on Blue Ghost Mission 2 as an important step forward for Volta and the future of lunar infrastructure, because it moves the Wireless Power Receiver from lab tests into a real mission context. I read that as a sign that the company wants to be seen not just as a component supplier but as a foundational player in how lunar power will be delivered.
The partnership announcement underscores that Firefly Aerospace Adds Volta’s Wireless Power Receiver to Blue Ghost Mission 2 in order to support technology that could enable long lasting operations on the Moon. In that narrative, the mission is a proving ground for a system that, if scaled, could keep landers, rovers, and eventually habitats running through the long lunar night, and the statement that Partnering with Firefly on Blue Ghost Mission 2 is an important step forward for Volta and the future of lunar infrastructure is highlighted in the coverage of how Firefly Aerospace Adds Volta’s Wireless Power Receiver to the mission.
What success would mean for future lunar bases
If the receiver test on Blue Ghost works as planned, it will strengthen the case for treating power as a shared service on the Moon rather than a bespoke subsystem on each mission. A functioning LightPort on the surface would show that a standardized Wireless Power Receiver can survive launch, landing, and lunar conditions while still converting beamed energy into usable electricity. That, in turn, would give mission planners more confidence that they can design landers and habitats around a plug-in model, where power is purchased from a grid instead of generated entirely on-site.
For NASA and other agencies that are sketching out permanent bases, a working lunar power grid would unlock more ambitious operations on the surface. Concepts for a solar satellite network already suggest that such a system could help power future lunar bases and support NASA’s vision of a permanent human presence on the Moon, and a successful receiver demo would be a concrete step toward that outcome. In that sense, the small hardware package riding on Blue Ghost Mission 2 is a bellwether for whether space startups can turn their wireless power concepts into the kind of infrastructure that future astronauts will quietly depend on, just as they now rely on terrestrial utilities that most of us rarely think about.
How this fits into the evolving commercial space ecosystem
The Blue Ghost power demo also illustrates how the commercial space ecosystem is maturing from launch and transportation into layered services. Firefly is using its lander not only to deliver payloads but to anchor partnerships around infrastructure, while Volta is positioning itself as a utility provider that will eventually sell power rather than hardware alone. That mirrors patterns on Earth, where companies that control networks, from telecom to energy, often become the most durable players in a market.
At the same time, the experiment shows how different segments of the space power race are starting to overlap. Companies like Aetherflux are focused on sending energy from orbit to Earth, while Volta is concentrating on lunar and in-space distribution, yet both are building toward constellations and receivers that must operate reliably and safely. The fact that Firefly Aerospace Partners with Volta Space Technologies for Lunar Power Demonstration on Blue Ghost Mission 2 is being discussed alongside other efforts to build space-based power systems underscores that these projects are no longer isolated curiosities but part of a broader push to make energy a first-class service in space, as reflected in additional coverage of how Firefly Aerospace Partners with Volta.
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