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Overview Energy Emerges From Stealth With Ambitious Space Solar Power Initiative

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

December 11, 2025

Innovative Space-Based Solar Power

Overview Energy has officially emerged from stealth mode, unveiling a pioneering plan to convert the world’s solar panels into nighttime power collectors. The startup aims to deploy expansive solar arrays into geosynchronous orbit—approximately 22,000 miles above Earth—to capture sunlight. The harvested energy will then be transmitted via infrared lasers to ground-based solar farms, enabling nearly continuous power delivery to the grid.

Robust Funding And Strategic Partnerships

To date, Overview Energy has secured $20 million, a portion of which has already fueled a successful airborne demonstration. In this test, a light aircraft beamed power using laser technology to a ground receiver over a distance of 5 kilometers. Key investors include the Aurelia Institute, Earthrise Ventures, Engine Ventures, EQT Foundation, Lowercarbon Capital, and Prime Movers Lab.

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Infrared Versus Microwave: A Comparative Analysis

The proposed infrared laser transmission method is vulnerable to weather conditions, as water droplets in clouds can absorb energy. In contrast, some competitors, such as Aetherflux, are also exploring laser-based solutions. Meanwhile, other entities like Emrod and the combined forces of Orbital Composites and Virtus Solis are advancing microwave-based power transmission. Although microwaves are less affected by adverse weather, this approach demands the creation of new ground stations due to their inability to repurpose existing infrastructure.

Risk Mitigation And Technological Hurdles

Key challenges remain, including cost efficiency, beam precision, and safety concerns. To contain expenses, future ground receivers are expected to be smaller and require highly focused, potent energy beams, which must be carefully managed to avoid unintended effects on birds and aircraft. Overview Energy’s strategy of retrofitting existing solar farms may alleviate some public concerns over stray energy beams. Nonetheless, the company must demonstrate that its laser system is sufficiently efficient to justify the conversion losses incurred during energy transformation between sunlight, infrared light, and electricity.

Roadmap And Future Deployment

Looking ahead, Overview Energy plans to launch a satellite into low Earth orbit in 2028—a preliminary step before eventually operating from geosynchronous orbit. If milestones are met on schedule, the company intends to transmit megawatts of power from space as early as 2030. This audacious timeline highlights both the bold vision and the formidable technical and regulatory challenges ahead.

Industry Implications And The Path Forward

The pursuit of space-based solar power represents a transformative shift in energy technology, competing with rapidly advancing grid-scale batteries and even emerging nuclear fusion projects. Despite the obstacles, the growing interest from specialty suppliers and investors underscores a broad belief that what was once relegated to science fiction could soon become a reality.

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Women Make Up A Majority Of The EU’s Science And Technology Workforce But The Real Gap Is Elsewhere

by News Editor

June 25, 2026

Women now make up the majority of the EU’s science and technology workforce. According to Eurostat, in 2025, more than 81.6 million people aged 15 to 74 were employed in science and technology occupations across the EU. Of those, 52.5% were women, equal to 42.8 million women. The number of women in these occupations rose by 27.9% compared with 2015, an increase of more than 9.3 million over a decade.

On the surface, the numbers resemble progress. However, Eurostat’s category requires context before that figure can be read accurately. The data refers to HRST, or Human Resources in Science and Technology, specifically people employed in science and technology occupations. These are roles where the main tasks require professional or technical knowledge in physical and life sciences, but also in social sciences and humanities. That definition is wider and broader than engineering, ICT, laboratory science, or high-tech research alone.

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Zooming In

The gender picture changes once the data moves from a wider definition of the workforce to the narrower scientist-and-engineer (research and manufacturing) subgroup.

Scientists and engineers represented almost a quarter of all people employed in science and technology in the EU in 2025. Eurostat describes scientists and engineers as often being the innovators at the centre of technology-led development, making them an important subgroup to focus on separately.

Women accounted for only 40.8% of scientists and engineers in 2025, despite making up more than half of the wider category. That share has increased by a mere 0.5 percentage points over the past decade. The absolute number of women working as scientists and engineers rose from 5.3 million in 2015 to 8.2 million in 2025, despite the push from national and international organisations to increase the number of women in the field. Europe has expanded the number of women in science and technology occupations over ten years. However, that expansion has not extended equally into the scientist-and-engineer subgroup, where much of Europe’s research and innovation work is conducted.

In 2025, of the 39.4 million women aged 25 to 64 working in science and technology occupations in the EU, 35.5 million worked in service activities. Only 2.7 million worked in manufacturing. Women accounted for 57.5% of science and technology employment in services, but only 31.3% in manufacturing.

In 2025, the highest shares of women employed in science and technology occupations were recorded in Latvia at 62.4%, followed by Hungary’s Great Plain and North region at 61.1%, Estonia at 60.5%, Poland’s Central macroregion at 60.4%, and Lithuania at 60.3%. No EU country recorded a majority of women among science and technology workers in manufacturing.

Break-down

Eurostat’s figures measure employment in broad science and technology occupations. They do not show job security, pay levels, management roles, promotion rates, research leadership, or whether women are concentrated in junior or senior workplace positions.

The classification of “senior” also requires additional explanation. Eurostat reports that 45.9% of science and technology workers aged 25 to 64 in the EU were classified as “senior” HRST in 2025. In this dataset, “senior” refers to workers aged 45 to 64. It does not mean senior manager, senior researcher, team lead, or decision-maker.

A high female share in the wider Human Resource Science and Technology (HRST) category does not parallel equal representation across scientists, engineers, manufacturing roles, senior posts, pay, research funding, or decision-making. These figures also reflect the occupational mix inside each country or region, not only structural progress across all areas of science and technology.

The Case Of Cyprus

Eurostat data places Cyprus’s overall science and technology employment at 37.2% of the labour force in 2025, slightly above the EU-27 figure of 36.9%, and above Greece at 26.8%, Malta at 33.9%, and Turkey at 18.2%. This figure covers the total share of the labour force employed in science and technology across all genders.

Progress Or Work-in-Progress?

52.5% in the broad category. 40.8% among scientists and engineers. 31.3% in manufacturing. Europe’s gender gap in science and technology hasn’t closed yet, and there is still work to be done to encourage and support more women to enter the field, especially in research and manufacturing.

Let’s not wait another decade for another couple of percentage points of hope.