Through an agreement with Overview Energy, Meta aims to circumvent the limitations of the Earth’s power grid by beaming near-infrared light from space to terrestrial solar power plants to power high-density AI workloads.
Meta focuses on orbital infrastructure to solve energy procurement challenges and signs a unique agreement with Overview Energy to provide space-based solar power to its data centers.
The agreement gives Meta early access to Overview’s space solar system capacity of up to 1 GW. The system collects solar energy in space and sends it to existing solar facilities on the ground, where it is converted into electricity, allowing these assets to maximize usage and produce power 24 hours a day.
The partnership aims for demonstration in 2028 and commercial energy supply is expected in 2030.
Overview’s satellites continuously collect sunlight in geosynchronous orbit and beam it to existing ground-based solar projects as low-intensity near-infrared light. By extending the hours that solar installations can generate power, the system is designed to significantly increase their output without the need for new land, fuel or lengthy grid interconnection processes. Overview’s beam is invisible, less intense than sunlight and passively safe for people, animals and aircraft.
The partnership reflects a broader industry shift towards behind-the-meter and off-grid solutions as hyperscalers look to insulate themselves from grid volatility. As the electric grid struggles to meet the energy demands of generative AI, the industry is increasingly moving toward energy farms that integrate solar and storage to bypass slow federal interconnection queues.
By securing energy from orbit, Meta is betting on Elon Musk’s theorem solar energy is the key to space-based AI. Orbital arrays provide a 30% power boost by eliminating atmospheric attenuation and provide approximately five times the energy yield of terrestrial systems by operating outside the day-night cycle.
This move toward vertical integration mirrors earthly trends, such as Alphabet’s $4.75 billion acquisition of Intersect Power, as big tech moves toward physical delivery to ensure immediate power surges don’t crash local distribution lines.
The orbital strategy allows developers to circumvent grid restrictions and increasing bottlenecks in the interconnection which have forced a shift away from speculative new projects. While the total domestic pipeline reached 241 GW in 2025, there are currently 160 GW of committed large load requests in the pipeline, representing 22% of total peak demand.
This increase in demand is rewriting the PPA solar playbooktransforming the market into a seller-led environment where business buyers are more willing to accept higher prices and greater risk sharing to secure reliable electricity.
Overview’s advisory board includes Jim Bridenstine, former NASA administrator and congressman; Mike Griffin, former NASA administrator; and Joseph Kelliher, former FERC Chairman and EVP of Regulatory at NextEra.
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