Space Solar Joins NATO DIANA to Accelerate Resilient Space Operations

As space becomes increasingly central to defence, security and energy resilience, new technologies are needed to build and sustain the infrastructure that future operations will depend on. Space Solar has been selected to join the 2026 cohort of the NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) Challenge Programme, an initiative created by NATO to identify and accelerate dual-use technologies that address critical defence and security challenges across the Alliance.

Joining NATO DIANA represents a significant milestone for Space Solar and a strong validation of the work underway across the company. Our focus is simple: unlocking step-change power, aperture, and performance through the large, modular infrastructure we can build in space.

Through the programme we’ll gain access to funding, world-class testing infrastructure, and a network of defence and technical mentors across NATO nations, allowing us to refine our tech for the highest-priority applications.

Ultimately, this brings us closer to delivering a strategic capability for the Alliance – one that supports both resilient space operations and the growing demand for reliable energy in increasingly complex operational environments.

A technology aligned with resilient space operations

Space is increasingly recognised as the ultimate high ground for defence and security. As reliance on space-based infrastructure grows, the ability to build, maintain, and adapt systems in orbit will become essential to maintaining operational advantage.

The Resilient Space Operations challenge within the DIANA programme focuses precisely on this issue: how emerging technologies can help maintain freedom of manoeuvre in space while protecting vital orbital assets.

The technologies we’re developing align closely with this need. By enabling autonomous in-space assembly and repair of large modular structures, our OSPREY Builder capability allows not only higher performance but creates more adaptable and resilient space architecture.  Systems can evolve over time and damaged components can be replaced or upgraded in situ.

Power is a defining operational enabler

As launch constraints begin to reduce, power is emerging as the next major bottleneck in space systems.

In parallel, modern operational environments are becoming increasingly energy-intensive. From AI-driven data processing in the field to autonomous robotic platforms and distributed sensing networks, the technologies shaping the future of defence and security demand ever greater levels of reliable energy.

Space Solar is delivering the solution to meeting this demand. By harvesting continuous sunlight in orbit through our large, lightweight solar arrays, we create a new, scalable power layer in space.  This supports fast evolving high-power applications in space including high power radar, orbital compute, and in-space manufacturing.  Through space-based solar power, we can also transmit the energy wirelessly to where it’s needed the most on the ground, instantaneously providing uninterrupted energy regardless of weather, time of day or local geography.

This capability can significantly strengthen operational resilience for NATO and allied nations. Access to a consistent source of power – independent of terrestrial infrastructure and vulnerable supply chains – will help ensure that critical systems and capabilities remain operational even in contested environments.

Delivering this capability at scale, however, requires a new approach to building infrastructure in orbit.

OSPREY Builder: enabling autonomous construction in orbit

In simple terms, OSPREY Builder acts as an automated construction worker in space. Modular components can be launched from Earth and autonomously assembled in orbit, allowing structures to be built that would be far too large to fit within any existing rocket fairing.

Historically, the scale of space systems has been constrained by the size of launch vehicles. Autonomous in-space construction removes that limitation entirely, enabling infrastructure of hundreds of meters – and eventually kilometres – in scale to be assembled in space, with power levels from megawatts to gigawatts. This opens the door for significantly larger communication arrays, more powerful sensing capabilities, and crucially, the development of gigawatt-scale solar power systems in orbit.

Ultimately, OSPREY Builder opens the door to a completely different class of space infrastructure.

Accelerating innovation through the DIANA network

Programmes such as DIANA play an important role in connecting the rapid pace of commercial innovation with the operational requirements of defence organisations.

Commercial space is evolving at extraordinary speed, driven by cost reduction, scalability and the emergence of new launch capabilities. Defence applications, meanwhile, require reliability, security, and clearly defined operational outcomes.

DIANA acts as both a scouting function and a translator between these two worlds, ensuring that emerging technologies are refined and validated so they can support allied needs from the outset.

Looking ahead

For companies like ours, DIANA creates a pathway to collaboration and adoption that would otherwise be difficult to access at an early stage of development. We have the opportunity not only to refine our tech, but also to build a pathway toward adoption by NATO and allied partners.

Over the coming months we will work closely with DualTech by Takeoff in Turin, while engaging with DIANA’s extensive network to further validate our advanced autonomous assembly designs and explore their potential applications across defence and dual-use markets.

By enabling large-scale infrastructure in space and delivering reliable energy from orbit, Space Solar aims to help unlock a future where resilient space operations can support security, strategic capability, and the broader transformation of global energy systems.