The Lunar Grid

The Lunar Grid will provide all actors across the lunar surface with a continuous power supply. By setting up an efficient and agile power distribution network, we will be able to deliver electrical energy at minimal cost and open up a whole new lunar era.

Created: 2021-12-22

Updated: 2024-04-08

Company - The Lunar Grid

Founded
Country: 2021; Luxembourg

Funding: $0.15M+

Website: https://thelunargrid.space/

Social

Product/Service

Classification: Space Utilities

Category: Resources - Energy
Power Beaming

Fields: Wireless Power Transfer
Moon

Status: Dormant

First launch: Dormant

The Lunar Grid is developing technology for wireless energy transmission, both for terrestrial and space applications. The transmission will be established over a free-space optical laser link and can reach over several kilometers providing power to remote systems. A specially designed power receptor unit will be utilised to convert the inclining laser light back into electricity and provide electrical energy.

This power beaming technology will be utilised for several terrestrial use cases to provide energy in remote locations and the technology will be upgraded to serve space systems. In particular it will enable advanced operation capabilities for lunar systems, such as rovers/habitats/communication beacons/… and can be scaled towards any extra-terrestrial missions, for example to Mars.

With The Lunar Grid we want to power all lunar missions and provide them with continuous access to energy. In order to accomplish this, we will first focus on deploying our technology on earth for drones to extend their flight time and reduce the costs for observations.

The idea gained traction with the organisers of Luxembourg’s accelerator programme Fit4Start, from which Lunar Grid graduated in the summer of 2022. The programme made Van Baelen reflect on his revenue strategy. He said: “There’s a lot of talk about the moon and mining resources there. But as of today, if we had our product standing on the moon, there would be no customer. For startups it is therefore critical to establish a short term strategy until the lunar economy matures.” The entrepreneur adopted a shorter-term vision of using the technology to increase the flight time of drones on Earth. The team is currently looking to adapt its lunar prototype to distribute energy to drones.

Status Comment / Notes

As of 2023, the founders are focused on wireless drone charging startup SkyGrids. May come back to this in the future.

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