Bellevue, Wash.-based Pulse Space says it has received a $40 million award from the U.S. Space Force to develop technologies for laser-based power beaming and orbital tracking systems.

The startup, founded in 2022, is working on a system that would collect energy using solar arrays and send that energy via a laser beam to remote nodes in space. The technologies developed for the system could also be used to track objects in orbit and transmit data.

“This historic $40 million award is a defining moment for Pulse Space, and I am exceptionally proud of our team for making it happen,” Karl Stedman, Pulse Space’s founder and CEO, said today in a news release. “We are honored to partner with the United States Space Force to mature our laser-based technologies and are proud to share this massive step forward with our investors and shareholders. Pulse’s technical development platform is helping pave the way toward that future.”

Pulse Space was previously awarded a $1.9 million Air Force contract in support of its work on laser-based military communications systems. The company said its proposed satellite constellation would support “secure, high-bandwidth optical communication and energy delivery,” with the ability to transmit 29.7 kilowatts of power to a 3-meter (10-foot) target from 1,000 kilometers (621 miles).

The company is also on the Missile Defense Agency’s list of potential vendors for SHIELD contracts, with a ceiling of $151 billion. SHIELD — which stands for Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense — is a program that encompasses a broad range of work areas for the Pentagon’s Golden Dome missile defense initiative.

Pulse Space was one of the startups selected in 2024 for the Techstars Space Accelerator program, and last year the company partnered with Virginia-based Scout Space to work toward an in-orbit demonstration of laser power transmission.

In February, Pulse Space completed a $5.72 million seed investment round, according to Pitchbook. Its investors include Divergent Capital, GrayArch Partners, Shake and Bake Productions and Techstars.

Amazon says the overnight launch of 29 satellites should clear the way for its Amazon Leo network to start offering commercial high-speed internet service from space this year, in direct competition with SpaceX’s Starlink network.

United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket sent the satellites into low Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:30 a.m. ET today (9:30 p.m. PT Wednesday).

This was the last of eight Atlas 5 launches that Amazon reserved for its satellites. Going forward, ULA will use its next-generation Vulcan rocket to support Amazon Leo’s years-long deployment schedule. Amazon has also made launch reservations with Blue Origin, Arianespace and SpaceX.

The latest liftoff boosts Amazon Leo’s constellation to 396 operational satellites. That will be enough to support continuous connectivity in the initial latitudes targeted for commercial service, according to Chris Weber, vice president of business and product for Amazon Leo.

“Still lots of work ahead — including raising all these new satellites to their assigned altitude — but we’ve completed enough launches for initial service this year, and future missions just add coverage and capacity,” Weber said in a LinkedIn post.

Amazon has been beta-testing the service for months with a select group of customers, but connectivity hasn’t been continuous due to sparse orbital coverage. Amazon Leo’s business plan calls for launching commercial service within a limited zone concentrated at mid-northern and mid-southern latitudes, and gradually expanding the service area as more satellites go up.

“With hundreds of flight-ready satellites standing by at the Cape and a new, dedicated vertical integration facility ready to support Leo Vulcan 1 and subsequent missions, we have a clear path to increase launch and deployment cadence, helping us quickly expand network coverage following an initial service rollout later this year,” Melissa Wuerl, Amazon Leo’s director of launch systems, said in a statement released after the latest launch.

Amazon hasn’t yet announced pricing for satellite broadband service. The first-generation constellation, consisting of 3,232 satellites, is due to reach full deployment in mid-2029 — and Amazon has received regulatory approval for an even larger second-generation constellation.

When Amazon Leo begins commercial service, it will still trail far behind SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network, which has more than 10,000 satellites in orbit and 12 million subscribers. The satellites for both Starlink and Amazon Leo are built in the Seattle area.

In the years ahead, SpaceX plans to beef up Starlink’s capabilities in the emerging market for direct-to-device satellite services. Amazon is aggressively targeting that same market through its recent acquisition of Globalstar. Under a separate agreement tied to the deal, Amazon Leo will start powering Apple’s iPhone satellite services starting in 2028.

California-based K2 Space is establishing a satellite engineering hub in the Seattle area, adding to a thriving regional ecosystem of satellite ventures.

The Pacific Northwest operation will support the company’s drive to build large, high-power satellites for government and commercial customers. The satellites are manufactured at K2’s factory in Torrance, Calif. The company also maintains a policy and strategy office in Washington, D.C.

Since its founding in 2022, K2 Space has raised more than $500 million in capital and registered more than $1 billion in contracts. While many satellite companies focus on miniaturization, K2 Space is going big on satellite mass and power. K2 had its first “mega-class” satellite, dubbed Gravitas, launched into orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in March. The two-ton, 20-kilowatt satellite carried a dozen undisclosed payload modules for multiple customers, including the Department of Defense.

That “go-big” approach is gaining traction: Last month, for example, the U.S. Space Force confirmed that K2 Space would be one of the suppliers for its next-generation military communications network. To serve the anticipated market, K2 Space says it plans to produce hundreds of satellites annually by 2030.

“As we carefully evaluated our expansion plans to align with our next phase of growth, the Seattle area was a natural fit, given its decisive reputation as an aerospace and engineering hub,” K2 Space CEO and co-founder Karan Kunjur said in a news release. “From flight software and autonomy to the low-level systems that drive our satellites’ most demanding workloads, our Seattle team will contribute to satellites operating at the edge of what’s possible.”

K2 Space currently has more than 300 employees, and several employees are already working in the Seattle area on a remote basis. Supporting those workers’ needs was one of the factors behind the decision to establish a Seattle-area office. A representative of K2 Space told GeekWire via email that the company was targeting the Bellevue area for the office, but was still finalizing a specific location.

Seattle already has arguably earned its place as America’s satellite city. More than half of the world’s active satellites were built in the region, primarily driven by SpaceX’s Starlink manufacturing facility in Redmond. Satellites for the rival Amazon Leo constellation (formerly known as Project Kuiper) are produced nearby at a factory in Kirkland.

The region’s other satellite manufacturers include Starcloud in Redmond, Xplore in Bellevue and Portal Space Systems in Bothell. South of Seattle, Tukwila serves as the home base for satellite production facilities operated by BlackSky (formerly LeoStella) and Starfish Space.

California-based Cowboy Space, a data center satellite company formerly known as Aetherflux, has an engineering office in the Seattle area. Another California company focusing on satellite-based computing, Sophia Space, has a Seattle presence as well.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture, which is headquartered in Kent, Wash., is gearing up for satellite projects including Terawave and a proposed data-center constellation called Project Sunrise. Blue Origin’s job listings suggest that facilities in the Seattle area, Los Angeles and Denver will play roles in those operations.