TL;DR
The old science-fiction dream of power stations in space that beam sunlight wherever it is needed has quietly turned into a business with paying customers, before the technology has even been shown to work. A startup called Star Catcher has signed 10 customers and more than $60 million in orders to shine concentrated sunlight onto other satellites, giving them up to 10 times more power on demand. A separate test satellite launched on Oct. 1 is trying the harder trick of beaming power from orbit down to the ground by laser. If either works, the first real market may be AI computers in orbit, which are hungry for power and parked right next to the supplier. Electricity beamed to homes on Earth is a much longer road.
Below the line, for paid subscribers: The full story: where it stands, how we got here and what's dated next; our Odds board on 5 milestones, starting with "Cowboy Space publishes results from its Reason-1 laser test by 2027"; our labeled speculation on what it adds up to; and every source.