Aetherflux, the space solar startup founded by Baiju Bhatt, the billionaire co-founder of Robinhood, has raised $50 million in a Series A round as it works to launch its first low Earth orbit demonstration in 2026. The San Carlos, California-based startup, which came out of stealth last October, aims to eventually launch a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites that can collect and transmit solar energy directly to 'ground stations' on Earth. It's an idea that was initially triggered by Isaac Asimov's 1941 short story 'Reason.' Bhatt is focused on turning this science fiction-inspired concept into reality. But first, Aetherflux needs to get a satellite to orbit to prove out the tech, to 'demonstrate that we have made this transformative progress of going from humans not having power from space to, for the very first time, there being power from space for humans,' Bhatt, the startup's founder and CEO, told TechCrunch. At least, that's the goal with next year's launch, which will...
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