The race to power the AI boom has officially left Earth’s atmosphere. Meta has signed a landmark agreement with startup Overview Energy to develop a system that beams solar power from space, aiming to keep its energy-hungry data centers running even after the sun goes down.
Quick Facts
- Meta’s 2024 data center energy use topped 18,000 GWh.
- The deal reserves up to 1 gigawatt of power for Meta.
- Overview Energy plans a 1,000-satellite fleet starting in 2030.
Fueling the AI Boom Around the Clock
Meta’s appetite for electricity is immense, driven by its expanding AI operations. In 2024 alone, its data centers consumed enough energy to power over 1.7 million American homes for a year. While the company is committed to building 30 gigawatts of renewable power, primarily large-scale solar plants, a fundamental problem remains: solar farms don’t work at night. This typically forces data centers to rely on expensive battery storage or fall back on other power sources.
Beaming Sunlight From Orbit
Overview Energy, a Virginia-based company that recently came out of stealth, offers a novel solution. The four-year-old startup is engineering a fleet of satellites that will harvest constant solar energy in orbit. This energy is then converted into a near-infrared light beam and directed at existing solar farms on the ground, effectively allowing them to generate electricity 24/7.
The company says its wide, infrared beam approach avoids the safety and regulatory hurdles of high-power lasers or microwave transmission. CEO Marc Berte claims you could stare directly into the satellite’s beam without harm. Overview has already proven the concept by transmitting power from an aircraft and targets its first satellite launch for a space-based test in January 2028.
Meta’s Gigawatt Bet on Space Power
Under the new agreement, Meta has reserved up to 1 gigawatt of power capacity from Overview’s future satellite constellation. While financial details were not disclosed, the deal marks a significant vote of confidence in the technology. Overview even created a new metric for the contract: “megawatt photons,” representing the amount of light needed to produce one megawatt of electricity.
Berte expects to begin launching the operational satellites for this commitment in 2030, eventually building a fleet of 1,000 spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit. This high orbit keeps each satellite positioned over the same spot on Earth. The initial deployment aims to cover a vast area from the US West Coast to Western Europe.
“There’s a big difference between being in any one energy market, and being in all of the energy markets,” Berte told TechCrunch, highlighting the flexibility of delivering power wherever it’s most needed.
Why This Matters for MENA’s Data Center Hubs
While this deal involves a US tech giant, its implications are massive for the rapidly expanding tech ecosystems across MENA. Countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia are investing billions to become major data center hubs, fueled by national AI strategies and cloud adoption. These nations also have some of the world’s best solar potential and ambitious renewable energy targets.
A technology like Overview’s could be transformative for the region. It would allow these countries to maximize their huge investments in solar infrastructure, ensuring that data centers and future giga-projects have a steady stream of clean power around the clock. This would reduce the reliance on fossil fuels for nighttime energy generation, directly supporting goals outlined in initiatives like Saudi Vision 2030 and the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 strategy. For MENA, space-based solar could be a key enabler for building a sustainable, AI-powered future.
About Overview Energy
Overview Energy is a four-year-old startup based in Ashburn, Virginia. The company is developing a constellation of satellites designed to collect solar power in space and transmit it as near-infrared light to terrestrial solar farms, enabling them to generate electricity at night.
Source: TechCrunch
