Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show Dr. Paul Jaffe, Ph.D. - Tactical Technology Office, DARPA - Power Beaming and Space Solar
Dr. Paul Jaffe, Ph.D. ( https://www.darpa.mil/about/people/paul-jaffe ) is a Program Manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, where he oversees the Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay ( POWER - https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/power ) project, which aims to revolutionize energy distribution through airborne wireless power transfer, enabling high power beaming, radically reshape society’s relationship with energy, and unlocking power opportunities everywhere, from energy-starved communities to space colonies and everything in between.
Prior to joining DARPA, Dr. Jaffe spent 30 years as an engineer and researcher at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). At the NRL, he led or held major roles on dozens of space missions and breakthrough technology development programs for NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the military services, and other sponsors. These include the Special Sensor Ultraviolet Limb Imager (SSULI), the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO), TacSat-1, TacSat-4, Operationally Responsive Space (ORS), the Photovoltaic Radiofrequency Antenna Module (PRAM), the Microwave Imager/Sounder (MIS), CARINA, Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS), Power TRansmitted Over Laser (PTROL), Space Solar for Forward Operating Bases and Remote Installations (S2FOBs), the Light-Emitting Rectenna STEM demonstration on the International Space Station (LEctenna), and the Space Wireless Energy Laser Link (SWELL) which was the first demonstration of optical power beaming in space.
Dr. Jaffe served as a coordinator of the NRL’s seminal studies of the military applications of space solar, and as an editor of the study groups’ acclaimed final reports. He was the principal investigator for a ground-breaking research effort involving the development and testing of modules for conversion of sunlight into microwaves. The modules have a number of potential applications, including satellites for space solar, and have been launched and tested in space via the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Space Test Program (STP) and have returned valuable data to inform future efforts. He was also the champion for the first power beaming STEM demonstration in space, conducted on the International Space Station by Astronaut Jessica Meir.
Dr. Jaffe is the lead author of a 2024 book, "Power Beaming: History, Theory, and Practice", a textbook covering various methods of power beaming, including both RF (microwave) and optical (laser) technologies.
Dr. Jaffe received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, graduating with honors. He earned a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Important Episode Links -
- DARPA Connect - https://www.darpa.mil/about/darpaconnect
- DARPA breaks power beaming record - https://www.darpa.mil/news/2025/darpa-program-distance-record-power-beaming
- Short video explaining the record-breaking effort - https://youtube.com/shorts/l94FsFATQZI?si=Vr29mNBYglP2GnIo
- Dissertation on conversion modules for space solar - https://drum.lib.umd.edu/items/dcb3d60d-55bb-4044-9b41-edca792caa4c
- How to build a LEctenna - https://www.nrl.navy.mil/STEM/LEctenna-Challenge/
- Power beaming book - https://www.amazon.com/Power-Beaming-Scientific-Technologies-Bar-Cohen/dp/9811243107
- 2016 space solar pitch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9dQsRv1XDg
- More about SWELL - https://www.navy.mil/DesktopModules/ArticleCS/Print.aspx?PortalId