Solestial develops silicon solar cells engineered for space that can self-cure radiation damage and are packaged in ultrathin, low-mass, flexible solar power modules. The modules can be produced on automated machines at costs lower than traditional III-V multijunction products and are designed to last up to 10 years in various space destinations. Since opening its Tempe, Arizona manufacturing facility in 2023, the company has added square footage each year, more than doubled its workforce, and delivered commercial products to dozens of companies. The company is scaling manufacturing to 1 megawatt per year — a rate the company says is comparable to the estimated annual manufacturing capacity of all US and EU III-V space solar companies combined. Solestial says it is hiring, scaling production, and qualifying its technology amid strong market demand across satellite constellations, lunar exploration, national security, and other missions. Leadership changes accompanying the fundraise include the appointment of Margo de Naray as CEO and the founding CEO Stanislau Herasimenka moving to CTO to focus on the product roadmap and operations technology. Solestial develops space-grade solar panels using inexpensive, scalable terrestrial manufacturing processes with the goal of cutting costs to roughly one-tenth of standard III/IV panels. Its core cell technology uses low-temperature heat curing (80°C) that can self-cure radiation damage, a feature validated at prototype stage. The company is now focusing on full panel assemblies, including interconnects and extra-thin silicon substrates, and is subjecting those assemblies to accelerated stress testing to demonstrate multi-year orbital lifetimes. Solestial has delivered several small panels for demo flights while customers help the firm build flight heritage and validate mass-production readiness. Management targets mass production in about two years with the capacity to produce tens of thousands of panels to serve satellite constellations and larger space installations. Financially, Solestial raised a $10M seed and previously received roughly $2.5M in SBIR awards to validate the technology. The company rebranded from Regher Solar to reflect plans to expand beyond panels into broader in-space power solutions over time.

Total raised

$27M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

May 2025