Company History

LaserMotive was founded in early 2007 by a team of scientists and engineers who worked nights and weekends to build a system capable of winning the NASA Power Beaming Challenge. After success in that effort, with the win in November 2009, the company received the $900,000 competition prize. Those funds seeded the beginning of the effort to commercialize laser power beaming.

The next big milestone was 11 months later, in October 2010, when the company partnered with Ascending Technologies to fly an Ascending quadrocoptor for 12.5 hours (with a five-minute battery), which was a flight duration of 150 times battery life.

In August 2011, LaserMotive commenced work on multiple contracts for NASA, to design the architecture to use laser power beaming to power satellites in orbit and launch rockets without combustible rocket fuel.  That work will last through the first quarter of 2012.

Throughout the last two years, the company has been developing extensive relationships with various groups within the Department of Defense, major defense contractors, and other commercial firms, as it educates potential users and builds market demand for laser power.

2012 promises to bring significant new demonstrations and multiple DoD and NASA contracts.  We may even have our first commercial product by year end!