Hardware Podcasts

97. Beaming Clean Energy From Space

The Next Byte Podcast · 22 Nov 2022 · 22m

What this episode covers

Hosts Daniel and Farbode discuss Momentous, a company providing in-space logistics services, and their use of the Duro PLM platform to manage rapid product development for their Vigoride satellite delivery system. They then analyze a Caltech project led by Professors Atwater, Hajimiri, and Pellegrino, which aims to beam clean energy from space to Earth using high-performance solar cells, radio frequency transmission, and lightweight origami structures. The hosts highlight the technical challenges of wireless power transmission and the potential for this technology to provide constant, low-cost energy regardless of weather or time of day.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Momentous, Caltech
Products
Vigoride, Falcon 9, James Webb telescope
Tools
Duro

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Catalyst · 47m

    Beaming 24/7 solar… from space

    Sanjay Vijendran, lead for the SOLARIS initiative on space-based solar power at the European Space Agency, explains the technical and economic viability of beaming 24/7 solar energy from geosynchronous orbit to Earth. He details the four main components—launch, solar collectors, phased array antennas, and ground receivers—and argues that reusable rockets like SpaceX's Starship and mass-produced satellite hardware have lowered costs enough to make the concept economically plausible within 10-15 years. Vijendran highlights ongoing pilot projects by Caltech, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and the Japanese Space Agency, while addressing safety concerns regarding radio frequency exposure and the critical need for increased R&D funding to bridge the gap between current demonstrations and commercial gigawatt-scale systems.

    Energy & climate techWireless & RF
    6 chapters

  • IoT For All Podcast · 28m

    Wireless Power and the Future of Sustainably Powering IoT? | Ossia's Hatem Zeine

    Hatem Zeine, founder and president of Ossia, explains how his company's Cota technology delivers wireless power to IoT devices at a distance, eliminating the need for batteries and wires. He details the evolution from his earlier Wi-Fi research to the invention of retro-directivity, which allows for safe, targeted energy transmission even with moving devices. Zeine outlines the four stages of adoption—retrofitting, integration, transformation, and innovation—and highlights retail and home use cases where this technology addresses massive sustainability and maintenance challenges.

    Batteries & low-power designWireless & RF
    7 chapters

  • Embedded.fm · 1h 02m

    153: Space Nerf Gun

    Patrick Yeon, an electrical engineer at Planet Labs, explains the company's strategy of building a constellation of shoebox-sized 'Dove' satellites to image the Earth daily at 3-meter resolution. He details how they use drag from the upper atmosphere, controlled by satellite orientation, to adjust orbital spacing without propellant, and why they rely on industrial-grade off-the-shelf components rather than expensive space-hardened hardware. Yeon also discusses the company's 'agile aerospace' philosophy, the regulatory challenges of ITAR, and their open data initiatives like Open California.

    Scaling productionMicrocontrollers & dev platforms
    8 chapters

  • The Electromaker Show · 35m

    Projects Overload, New Arduino Giga board, Batteryless IoT, and more!

    The host discusses the new Arduino Giga R1 Wi-Fi board, highlighting its Mega form factor, powerful controller, and multimedia capabilities like camera and audio output. He then covers a Crowd Supply campaign for Riotee, an open-source batteryless IoT module designed to reduce electronic waste by harvesting energy from solar or other sources. Finally, he reviews several community projects, including a cellular IoT quality analyzer, a hand-tracking piano, and a Doom port on a Lego brick.

    Microcontrollers & dev platformsCrowdfunding & preorders
    1 chapters

  • IoT For All Podcast · 26m

    Low-Cost IoT Connectivity with Satellites | Wyld Networks’ Alastair Williamson

    Alastair Williamson, CEO of Wyld Networks, explains how his company provides affordable, low-power satellite IoT connectivity by connecting LoRaWAN sensors to low Earth orbit satellites. He details the engineering challenges of mitigating interference in the unlicensed ISM band and highlights use cases in agriculture, supply chain, and energy where global coverage is critical. Williamson notes that Wyld Networks is preparing for a commercial launch in the second half of 2022, aiming to unlock a massive market for remote IoT devices.

    Wireless & RFConnected products & IoT
    6 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Next Byte Podcast. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.