Star Catcher CEO Andrew Rush grew up loving science fiction. Now he’s helping to bring a whole new generation of tech into reality in space by tackling its biggest bottleneck: access to power.
“Everybody basically goes on camping trips. You bring your solar rays with you,” says Star Catcher CEO Andrew Rush. “Our daily lives are based on and enriched by space, regardless of who we are. So providing more power ultimately enriches humanity.”
Rush isn’t new to the problem. He was previously CEO of Made In Space, which built the first 3D printer used in space more than a decade ago. In 2024, he co-founded Star Catcher, raising $12 million to harness the Sun’s power by beaming more concentrated energy to solar panels and satellite arrays.
On The Upstarts Podcast, Rush talks about his orbital career journey from patent lawyer to space CEO. He explains why energy and power are such an important unlock for space innovation, and why space startups are slowly getting better at raising venture dollars. And he shares his Upstart Moment, as Star Catcher passed key checkpoints by completing optical tests at Jacksonville's EverBank Stadium and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center last year.
Chapters:
1:38 Intro to Star Catcher
3:16 Space’s power problem
9:16 Football field-sized satellites
15:13 Star Catcher’s solution
21:48 Moonshot financing
26:15 Patience with a big vision
27:26 Andrew’s Upstart Moment
30:45 Lawyer to space CEO
33:54 Science fiction to real life
35:36 A founder’s daily whiplash
For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/
Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury: https://mercury.com/
Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm/
