Flex Connections: Material Selection in Nickel vs. Copper Tabs
Flex Connections: Four Lessons in Engineering Judgment for PCB Designers
Flexible Thinking: ‘Let There Be Light’–Emitting Diodes!
Virtus Solis Technologies, Inc., a pioneer in the delivery of space-based solar for terrestrial baseload power, and Brae Systems, announced the closing of a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in which Virtus Solis will supply continuous, space-based solar power to Brae's advanced computing infrastructure. The deal represents the first solar PPA in space and Virtus Solar's first in a series of commercial offtake agreements over the next several months.
Under the agreement, Virtus Solis will supply 100 MW of 24/7 orbital solar baseload power, delivering 876,000 MWh annually, via a dedicated terrestrial receiving station to be constructed in Illinois. The contract includes an option for Brae to expand capacity to 250 MW (delivering 2.19 million MWh annually) within three years of initial commercial operations, representing a multi-billion-dollar lifetime gross contract commitment.
The partnership directly aligns with Brae's mission to deploy high performance subsea GPU data centers. By deploying compute modules in marine environments, Brae eliminates terrestrial land constraints and drastically reduces cooling and construction overhead. Pairing subsea GPU clusters with baseload orbital power solves the two greatest bottlenecks facing AI infrastructure: escalating thermal loads and regional grid power shortages.
"AI workloads require an unprecedented leap in both energy availability and thermal efficiency," said Vishnu Indukuri, Chief Executive Officer of Brae Systems. "Brae engineered underwater data centers to unlock natural free liquid cooling and bypass terrestrial bottlenecks. Securing a direct 20-year supply of firm, clean power from Virtus Solis ensures our GPU infrastructure operates with predictable power costs and zero carbon emissions, completely insulated from terrestrial grid curtailment."
Unlike terrestrial solar and wind, which require costly battery storage to manage intermittency, Virtus Solis harnesses space-based solar power transmitted continuously via high-efficiency radio-frequency (RF) power beaming. This ensures true zero-carbon, round-the-clock baseload generation with a guaranteed 99.9% uptime. With the support of a $2M corporate development agreement with ARPA-E, Virtus Solis is developing a new class of power electronics required for this new asset class of orbital generation. The next major proof point for Virtus Solis's unit economics will be in March 2027 when the company will perform a public demonstration in which it expects to yield record Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) efficiencies.
"Signing the world's first commercial RF space solar power purchase agreement represents an inflection point for the global energy transition and the future of compute," said John Bucknell, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Virtus Solis Technologies. "High-performance AI data centers demand uninterrupted, gigawatt-scale power that strained terrestrial grids simply cannot deliver cleanly. Our orbital solar architecture bypasses terrestrial land and atmospheric constraints, providing firm, reliable baseload electricity at scale. In Brae, we have found an ideal, forward-thinking partner rethinking compute infrastructure from first principles."
An invited speaker at POWER Magazine and The Space Frontier Foundation's Space Solar Power Symposium on September 30, 2026 in Washington D.C., John will join the keynote & debate, "Why Space Belongs in the Energy Room."
