Every frontier rewards those who learn to use the resources already available.

Ships crossed oceans by harnessing the wind. Hydroelectric systems turned moving water into electricity. As humanity expands beyond Earth, the next leap may come from learning to use the space environment itself in entirely new ways.

Zenno Astronautics is pursuing that idea through electromagnetic infrastructure designed to convert abundant universal energy in space into useful work. 

The company’s goal reaches beyond a single product. It is exploring how powerful superconducting magnets can support spacecraft stabilization, future mobility, new launch concepts, and radiation protection for human exploration.

Thinking from First Principles

Zenno began with a question rather than the established aerospace playbook: How can spacecraft rely more on the resources around them and carry less from Earth?

That first-principles approach led the company to superconducting magnet technology. Powered by electricity generated from sunlight through solar panels, these magnets create exceptionally strong magnetic fields that can interact with the space environment. The result is a new category of capability built around converting available energy into practical spacecraft functions.

Max Arshavsky, co-founder of Zenno, describes the vision as creating electromagnetic infrastructure for space. Sunlight, magnetic fields, and other environmental forces become resources that can be put to work rather than conditions spacecraft must simply manage.

From Energy to Control

Zenno’s first commercial application focuses on spacecraft stabilization.

Satellites must maintain precise orientation so antennas, sensors, solar arrays, and payloads point in the correct direction. Traditional attitude-control systems rely on combinations of reaction wheels, thrusters, and fuel. Zenno’s solar-powered superconducting system generates powerful magnetic capability, allowing spacecraft operators to manage orientation while reducing dependence on consumable resources.

The company already has two systems operating in orbit and was integrating into a third mission during the interview. That flight experience helps demonstrate that superconducting technology can operate successfully in space while supporting practical satellite missions.

The significance extends beyond stabilization. Proving that powerful superconducting magnets can function in orbit opens a wider field of electromagnetic applications.

Unlocking New Capabilities

Zenno is exploring how similar technology could support spacecraft mobility and future magnetic launch systems. By accelerating objects in space through electromagnetic force, future platforms could move payloads or support transportation architectures with less reliance on conventional propellant.

Farther ahead, the company is studying magnetic radiation shielding. Powerful magnetic fields could help redirect charged particles away from spacecraft or crewed habitats, much like Earth’s magnetic field helps shield our planet from the solar wind and other energetic particles. Such systems could provide an additional layer of protection for astronauts traveling beyond Earth’s natural magnetic shield.

Each application addresses a different challenge, yet all share the same philosophy: use energy already available in space to expand what spacecraft can accomplish.

Building a New Layer of Infrastructure

As commercial activity grows across Earth’s orbit, cislunar space, and future deep-space destinations, energy will serve as more than a resource to generate and store. It will become the foundation for new forms of movement, control, protection, and infrastructure.

Throughout this issue, companies are developing new ways to generate power, distribute it, and transform it into mission capability. Zenno adds another piece by demonstrating how solar energy can feed powerful electromagnetic systems that create entirely new functions.

The answers to some of space’s hardest challenges may already exist in the environment around us. Progress begins with the people willing to see those resources differently and discover how to unlock them.