We issued a press release today: LaserMotive to Work on NASA “Ride the Light” Game Changing Space Technology Project for Future Missions. See below for the full text of the release.

LaserMotive, an independent R&D company specializing in laser power beaming and winner of the 2009 NASA sponsored Power Beaming Competition, today announced it is one of the companies named to work on the new NASA “Ride the Light” project, one of the space organization’s new space technology projects in the Game Changing Technology division to pursue revolutionary technology required for future missions.

“The technologies pursued in this effort have the potential to revolutionize both space launch and on orbit operations, we are happy to be working with LaserMotive and all of our partners to make power beaming a reality,” said Charles Taylor of NASA.

Ride the Light will use beamed power and propulsion produced by commercially available power sources such as lasers and microwave energy to attempt to develop a low-cost, modular power beaming capability and explore multiple technologies to function as receiving elements of the beamed power. LaserMotive already has experience in developing its own laser power beaming system, based on technology LaserMotive developed for its winning entry in the 2009 NASA Power Beaming Challenge, that it has used to set world records for laser powered helicopter flight, first in August 2010 at the AUVSI Conference in Denver, Colo., and again in October 2010 at the Future of Flight in Mukilteo, Wash.

“We’re pleased to be a part of this ground breaking project by NASA,” said Tom Nugent, president and co-founder of LaserMotive. “LaserMotive believes that laser power beaming not only has the ability to provide an endless fuel supply to air and space craft, but it also has the potential to extend their abilities, improve their endurance and enable new missions. Being invited to be a part of the Ride the Light project is a validation of our company’s vision.”

Following the Phase One studies, NASA expects to make an implementation decision in 2012.

Headquartered in Kent, Wash., LaserMotive is a privately-held R&D company specializing in laser power beaming for commercial applications. The company was co-founded in 2006 by Dr. Jordin Kare, one of the foremost experts on laser propulsion, and Tom Nugent, former Research Director for LiftPort Group. Its industry partners include some of the leading companies in aerospace and lasers, including The Boeing Company, DILAS, MS Kennedy, Ophir Spiricon, Zaber Technologies, and In-Tec. For more information, including a white paper on LaserMotive’s UAV strategy, please visit the company website at www.lasermotive.com .

We are proud to announce an investment in LaserMotive from the Space Angels Network led by Brad Fleury, Director of Edge Consulting! Read the full press release for more information, and stay tuned for more news coming soon!

We are proud to announce that the Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization (CTSI) chose LaserMotive as one of the top 10 (out of more than 200) defense energy technology solutions, to present to a range of military officials at the Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit on September 13th.

CTSI issued a press release (the full PDF is on our site: CTSI Announces Top 10 Defense Energy Technology Solutions), which begins:

The Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization (CTSI) recognizes the 2011 Top 10 Defense Energy Technology Solutions. From over 220 global applicants spanning the energy spectrum, the organizations with the most promising military-related technologies were selected to present to panel of officials including the U.S. Army, U.S Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.

We are looking forward to presenting at APCE!

LaserMotive is pleased to have the opportunity to demonstrate its wireless power technology next week at the NASA Day on the Hill. This annual event is open to the public as well as to Congress, but the presenters (such as LaserMotive) are by invitation only. Most of the presenters are from NASA or NASA contractors. However, LaserMotive is just one of two companies presenting that are not NASA contractors, making this honor extra special. The NASA Day on the Hill exhibits highlight’s NASA’s Earth and space science portfolio, cutting-edge aeronautics research and technology development and continued leadership in human space flight and exploration.

We’ll be providing more details next week!

UPDATE: Here is our press release.

As blogged earlier, LaserMotive met with a number of media during SPIE last month, including Photonics Online, one of the leading publications covering laser technology. This week, Photonics Online editorial director Jim Pomager, who met with LaserMotive during the Conference, has informed us that LaserMotive will be featured in a DSS special edition newsletter that will be sent out today. This includes both video of LaserMotive at the show as well as a write up in their Day 2 Technology Report where the company is referred to as “perhaps the most popular booth in the DSS exhibit hall.”

LaserMotive issued a press release today:
LaserMotive To Demonstrate Wireless Power Technology for UAVs at SPIE Orlando. See below for the text of the release.

LaserMotive, an independent R&D company specializing in laser power beaming and winner of the 2009 NASA-sponsored Power Beaming Challenge, will be showcasing examples of its wireless power system for unmanned aerial vehicles, including models of electric helicopters and aircraft, here at the SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing Exhibition April 26-29 in Orlando, Florida, booth 3700.

The LaserMotive technology uses laser power beaming – the wireless transfer of energy over long distances using laser light – to create an endless source of power to aircraft. The LaserMotive laser power beaming system is based on technology the company developed for its winning entry in the 2009 Power Beaming Challenge for a purse prize of nearly $1 million, marking the first time any team ever won the Challenge.

Among the technologies on display are:
- A fully-functioning demonstration of a laser powered micro-helicopter. The demonstration is eye-safe and has been designed to fit inside LaserMotive’s booth at the Exhibition. The tethered demonstration model uses technology LaserMotive developed for the longest duration tethered laser-powered helicopter flight on record, set last August at the AUVSI Conference. At that time, the demonstration model successfully flew up to six hours continuously each day of the four-day conference.

- A simulation of a ground-based laser transmitter and multiple aircraft with laser receivers , including the record breaking laser-powered free-flying quadrocopter. That flight took place in October 2010 at the Future of Flight Aviation Center, where the unmanned quadrocopter flew continuous for more than 12 hours powered solely by lasers.

The technologies on display are part of the company’s long-term strategy to develop a full-scale laser power system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). According to industry research firm the Teal Group, UAVs are one of the largest growth sectors in the aerospace and defense industries with an expected growth rate worldwide to $11.5 billion annually by 2020.

In addition to the display, LaserMotive President Tom Nugent will present a paper titled #8045-40, with the title “Laser power beaming for defense and security applications.” This paper will overview wireless power via laser for unmanned aerial vehicles, remote sensors, and forward operating bases.

“We’re pleased to be able to demonstrate our technology at SPIE, which is one of the industry’s leading meeting places for scientists and engineers from industry, military, government agencies, and academia throughout the world,” said Tom Nugent, president and co-founder of LaserMotive. “Not only does our technology enable electric aircraft to be recharged in flight, but it also has the potential to extend their abilities, improve their endurance and enable new missions. It is especially viable for high-altitude, long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles and other types of aircraft that need power over a long period of time.”

Headquartered in Kent, Wash., LaserMotive is a privately-held R&D company specializing in laser power beaming for commercial applications. The company was co-founded in 2006 by Dr. Jordin Kare, one of the foremost experts on laser propulsion, and Tom Nugent, former Research Director for LiftPort Group. Its industry partners include some of the leading companies in aerospace and lasers, including The Boeing Company, DILAS, MS Kennedy, Ophir Spiricon, Zaber Technologies, and In-Tec. For more information, including a white paper on LaserMotive’s UAV strategy, please visit the company website at www.lasermotive.com.

This week, LaserMotive will be one of the presenters at the Space Power Workshop being held in Los Angeles. This annual workshop, now in its 29th year, is designed to provide an informal, unclassified, international forum for the exchange of ideas and information on space power. LaserMotive’s Tom Nugent will be speaking on “Transitioning Power Beaming from Terrestrial to Satellite Applications” before this illustrious crowd, which features speakers from the leading space technology organizations including top tier aerospace companies, universities, military groups, and national labs. The presentation (co-authored with Dr. Jordin Kare) will be Wednesday in the “Advanced Concepts” session. Other Space Power Workshop sessions will include Program Experience, Power Systems Architecture, Power Management and Distribution (PMAD), Energy Generation, Energy Storage and Theme Session. LaserMotive is delighted to be part of this great event!

At LaserMotive, we’re busy with preparations for our presence at the SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing Conference in Orlando at the end of the month. This is our first time exhibiting at the Conference, which is the largest unclassified event of this type for the defense, security and environment industries, and will give us the opportunity to meet with many of the leaders in these markets. We can’t tell you everything we’ll be showcasing there quite yet, but look for this to include an updated demonstration model of a remote controlled tethered helicopter, based on our earlier design created for AUVSI back in August. We’ll also have some space devoted to our record-breaking free-flying quadrocopter flight. Please plan to check in for updates from the Conference starting April 26th!

As we move into 2011, we have a lot to look forward to at LaserMotive. Lasers themselves continue to get better. There is increasing knowledge of what power beaming is, and thus more opportunities for potential contracts for us. 

Specifically, we hope to see the following at LaserMotive in the upcoming year:

• We’ll continue to demonstrate our laser power beaming technology for new applications and with even better performance. In 2011, however, we’re looking at making at least some of these demos into paid projects specifically contracted by customers.
• We’re looking to participate in the next running of the NASA Power Beaming competition, and while not official it seems it might happen in May or June. The possibility of winning the remaining $1.1M purse prize and the potential infusion of additional capital would provide additional funds for our R&D work and thus further the development of the technology.
• In the meantime, we’re continuing our work on private fundraising efforts. We can’t offer more specifics in public, however, we believe our successes in awards and competitions, such as our performance at the MIT Enterprise Forum of the NW Startup Demo, and in the NWEN First Look Forum (where voting was done exclusively by leaders from the investment community) brings credibility to our business plan.
• We’ll be exhibiting at two trade shows this year (SPIE Defense, Security & Sensing in April, and AUVSI in August).
• We will continue making presentations a priority this year as well. So far, this includes the Space Power Systems Conference, the International Society for Beamed Energy Propulsion (both in April), and the AUVSI Unmanned Systems conference in August, and we have hopes to do more.

As we move forward this year, we look forward to working with our partners, friends and customers as we strive to turn the potential of laser power beaming into commercial reality. Finally, stay tuned to this blog, our Twitter feed or our Facebook page for more frequent updates than we had in 2010!

In the closing moments of 2010, not only does the year mark the end of the first decade of the 21st century, but a milestone year as well for LaserMotive and the development of laser power beaming. From an array of industry awards to record breaking laser powered helicopter demos, 2010 has been an important and pivotal year for LaserMotive in our quest to commercialize the wireless transfer of energy via lasers.

From the start of 2010 and just on the heels of its win in the NASA-sponsored Power Beaming Competition (bringing home a purse prize of nearly $1 million), LaserMotive has garnered a number of business and technical achievements throughout the year that we believe will lay the groundwork for even greater ones in the upcoming year. Among the highlights of 2010 are:

• Starting the commercialization of laser power beaming, as LaserMotive used some of the NASA prize money to hire two team members full time.
• Release of our white paper on power beaming to UAVs, which garnered a surprisingly large amount of publicity.
• Attendance at AUVSI trade show in August, along with our public demo of the laser-powered micro-helicopter, flying for as long as 6 hours at a time and setting a record.
• Demo in October of a free-flying laser-powered quadrocopter, barely 2 months after meeting our partners in the endeavor (Ascending Technologies), and setting a number of technical records in the process.
• Receipt of a variety of industry awards, including Seattle Business Magazine’s “Innovators of the Year,” the Northwest Entrepreneur Network’s First Look Forum, and winners of the MIT Enterprise Forum’s NW Startup DEMO.

There was lots of work that generated interest from potential customers and partners. We can’t say much about those discussions at present, but hope to be able to share more with you in 2011 as these relationships come to fruition.

We’d like to thank all of you for your support in the past year, and wish you the very best in the upcoming New Year!