Docking is one of the riskiest moves in orbit, so the Space Force wants to know whether satellites can simply take on power wirelessly. It has tapped Yank Technologies, a wireless power specialist, for a small-business study of the idea announced Sept. 1.
Servicing craft today must rendezvous with a target, match its motion and lock on mechanically, all while both vehicles race around Earth at orbital speed. A botched approach can damage a satellite worth hundreds of millions of dollars, or send it tumbling into the wrong orbit.
Wireless power sidesteps that. Energy beamed across space could refill batteries on servicers, tugs, or payloads running hungry sensors, letting them keep working without a single docking port. The technology already moves power across short gaps on Earth in charging pads and industrial systems, and the study will look at how it performs at orbital distances.
If the assessment pans out, recharging could extend the lives of military satellites and support the Space Force’s growing appetite for on-orbit servicing, where firms refuel, repair or reposition government spacecraft. The contract is an early step; the study’s findings would shape any follow-on effort to build a flight system.
