Jax-based Star Catcher lands $60M Space Force award (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Star Catcher has secured a $60 million award to accelerate development of its “power grid in space” technology (artist’s rendering above).
The Jacksonville-founded startup is one of 11 companies receiving a piece of a $562.5 million award from the U.S. Space Force’s innovation arm, SpaceWERX.
This capital — $30 million in government funds and $30 million private matching — arrives three months after Star Catcher secured $65 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round. It brings the company’s total capital raised to at least $148 million.
The award is called a Strategic Funding Increase, or STRATFI, that allows the Space Force to directly invest in startups and help them leap from prototype to demonstrable capability.
Of the $562.5 million pulled together this year, $245 million was matched by private capital, according to SpaceWERX. During fiscal year 2025, the organization awarded more than 300 contracts totaling $510 million.
“STRATFI is a critical tool for the Space Force to signal demand to industry and private investors, de-risk innovative technologies, and empower non-traditional and small businesses to scale game-changing capabilities faster, more affordably, and at the speed required to maintain space superiority,” said Arthur Grijalva, director of SpaceWERX.
For Star Catcher, the capital installment arrives at a pivotal time for the local startup as it charges toward its next hurdle: building flight heritage and scaling up. That includes its first satellite launch, anticipated later this year.
Part of that goal is already taking shape as the company pursues a move into a Southside office that would increase its footprint by nearly 35,000 square feet.
As of June, the city is reviewing a permit application for the estimated $2 million job at 5022 Gate Parkway, Unit 406. Merritt Construction Services is listed as the contractor.
“On the heels of our recent funding round, we’re investing in a new Jacksonville headquarters to keep pace during this period of rapid growth,” co-founder and CEO Andrew Rush told the Business Journal at the time. “The larger facility gives us the room to support our growing team and expanding manufacturing capacity — and its prime location is a real asset as we recruit world-class engineers to build the first power grid in space.”
Star Catcher is the pioneer of what it has coined “space-to-space power beaming” or the building blocks to develop a power grid in space.
It was founded two years ago by space entrepreneurs Rush and Michael Snyder alongside venture capitalist Bryan Lyandvert. Rush is also the former CEO of Made In Space, which spearheaded in-space manufacturing, and was previously president of Jacksonville-based Redwire.
To date, Star Catcher’s customer base spans commercial space operators and U.S. government stakeholders.
It has signed seven power purchase agreements, secured multiple government contracts and is managing a qualified commercial pipeline representing more than $3 billion in projected annual recurring revenue, according to a spokesperson.
Rendering courtesy of Star Catcher