Virtus Solis literally means ‘power of the sun’, and with aerospace engineer Bucknell at the helm, the company is using the Sun’s energy from orbit and beaming it back to Earth. Using satellites to transmit clean electricity wirelessly to anywhere on the planet, 24 hours a day, this endeavour could open the world up to a new dawn of energy abundance.

From automotive to aerospace to energy

Bucknell’s career has been a varied one, covering more than three decades he has worked across automotive engineering, rocket propulsion, and now clean energy. Starting out in Detroit’s OEM ecosystem, Bucknell spent years honing his expertise in energy systems and learning about the economics of mass manufacture. After this, he moved into aerospace, where he ran advanced propulsion at SpaceX and was the first principal engineer working on the Raptor engine.

However, Bucknell’s experience doesn’t end there; it also includes designing manufacturing techniques at Divergent Technologies. It was at Divergent that he played a key part in designing one of the most power-dense car engines commercially available. All this experience, it turns out, made Bucknell a great fit for Virtus Solis.

After researching the global energy challenge, Bucknell realised that space-based solar power was a scalable and commercially viable solution that could deliver clean, firm energy to anywhere on Earth. He concluded that someone needed to do it. But who?

“You need the ability to do mass manufacture … understand energy systems … have [an] aerospace background … and systems engineering … because of my very nonlinear career … I woke up in the middle of the night and said, ‘oh shoot, I guess that’s me.’”

What Virtus Solis does

In simple terms, Virtus Solis builds power plants with a component that’s in space. It has a network of modular, solar-harvesting satellites in orbit that transmit energy to receivers on Earth using radio-frequency (RF) microwaves.

“We’re using the same technology as cell phones and cell towers – just at higher power levels,” said Bucknell. “We’ve shown we can do it at the efficiencies necessary to make the economics work, and have moved energy further than we need to, from orbit to the ground.”

Why now is the time for space-based solar power

Space-based solar power has been proposed for over a century, but until recently, the commercial barriers were insurmountable. However, with the rise of reusable rockets, advances in satellite miniaturisation, and consumer electronics supply chains that can be repurposed for space, the tides have changed.

“All the reasons why it wasn’t commercially viable 40 years ago are no longer true,” said Bucknell. “Once Falcon Heavy launched in 2018, we decided the last barrier was gone.”

Virtus Solis uses a hyper-modular design based on two primary parts: a satellite and a receiver. Both are engineered for robotic assembly using commercial off-the-shelf components. Bucknell believes this approach enables satellites to be built “at hundreds of dollars, not millions,” and deployed in under two years.

The real-world impact of energy equity

While the technical achievement is notable, Bucknell stresses the real-world impact of the company’s mission.

Globally, around one billion people still lack access to reliable energy. Even in developed economies, rising energy costs are reversing growth. Bucknell explained that space-based solar could drop energy prices to less than $0.50/MWh over the lifetime of the system.

“Our systems are commercially viable, which means the financiers make money, the operators make money, and we make money at about $30/ MWh … but that's during the 20-year finance period. In 20-years and one day, it drops to $0.50/MWh, which is 60 times lower, and it can operate like that for the rest of its commercial life … So imagine what it would look like if constrained resources were no longer constrained ... T hat’s when you see generational impact.”

A viable alternative to nuclear and fusion

Bucknell is also clear-eyed about how Virtus Solis compares to other clean energy pathways.

Nuclear, he said, has been effectively frozen in North America for decades. The newest plants have taken over 10 years to build. Fusion, meanwhile, remains unproven despite billions in funding. “We already have a fusion power plant in the sky,” Bucknell said. “We just need to collect it … You can’t solve intermittency with batteries and solar alone.”

En route to commercial availability

Virtus Solis has completed a series of ground-based microwave transmission demonstrations. In 2023, the team transmitted 68W over 100m using a 6,400-antenna array – showing controlled, safe, and efficient power transfer.

The company’s first in-space pilot, scheduled for 2027, will use robotic assembly to construct a small-scale satellite array that beams over 1kW to a ground station in Texas. By 2030, Bucknell expects to hand over the f irst commercial installation to a paying customer.

“We can build satellites in 90 days, and the ground station in 18 months,” he said. “So we can match terrestrial solar on speed but outperform on reliability and cost.”

Addressing misconceptions about solar in space

Bucknell described concerns around space debris, safety, and radiation as misplaced.

He explained that the satellites operate far above Low Earth Orbit, in Molniya and geostationary altitudes, that avoid the congestion that plagues constellations like Starlink. Microwave exposure, he explains, is comparable to standing in sunlight on a summer day – and drops off rapidly with distance.

“You can stand on top of the receiver and it’ll feel warm. If you want zero exposure, wear a mesh suit. We’ve made it intentionally safe.”

Even at end-of-life, the satellites retain value. Bucknell said that third parties have already expressed interest in recovering decommissioned hardware for use as radiation shielding in space habitats.

A startup mindset with deeptech goals

Virtus Solis operates with the lean thinking typical of startups but tackles a challenge usually reserved for national programmes. Buckell said that it has not relied on government funding, but instead securing backing from venture capital and accelerators like Seraphim Space.

“We’re saying we can do it for about $200 million in equity – much lower than the $20 billion NASA once estimated  … that’s very comparable to other hardware or deeptech startups.”

A grounded solution for a global problem

Despite the complexity of the engineering, Bucknell insists the concept is more grounded than people assume.

“We spend a lot of time educating … people think it’s science fiction. It’s not. It’s a grounded, practical solution. Everyone’s seen a solar panel. T hat’s all we’re using – just in the right place.”

And if it works, the implications extend beyond Earth.

“These systems could power anything inside the orbit of the Moon. They’re electronically steerable. Once you’ve built this infrastructure, you can start building an in-space economy,” Bucknell said. “It’s step one for a sustainable future.”

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2025 issue of Startups Magazine. _Click here to subscribe