Startup Wants To Launch a Space Mirror (nytimes.com)
- Reference: 0180941668
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/03/09/230222/startup-wants-to-launch-a-space-mirror
- Source link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/climate/space-mirror-satellite-solar.html
> It is an idea seemingly out of a sci-fi movie, but the company, Reflect Orbital of Hawthorne, Calif., could soon receive permission to launch its first prototype satellite with a 60-foot-wide mirror. The company has applied to the Federal Communications Commission, which issues the licenses needed to deploy satellites. If the F.C.C. approves, the test satellite could get a ride into orbit as soon as this summer. The F.C.C.'s public comment period on the application closes on Monday. "We're trying to build something that could replace fossil fuels and really power everything," Ben Nowack, Reflect Orbital's chief executive, said in an interview. The company has raised more than $28 million from investors.
>
> [...] Reflect Orbital's first prototype, which will be roughly the size of a dorm fridge, is almost complete. Once in space, about 400 miles up, the test satellite would unfurl a square mirror nearly 60 feet wide. That would bounce sunlight to illuminate a circular patch about three miles wide on the Earth's surface. Someone looking up would see a dot in the sky about as bright as a full moon. Two more prototypes could follow within a year. By the end of 2028, Reflect Orbital hopes to launch 1,000 larger satellites, and 5,000 of them by 2030. The largest mirrors are planned to be nearly 180 feet wide, reflecting as much light as 100 full moons. The company said its goal was to deploy the full constellation of 50,000 satellites by 2035.
>
> How much does it cost to order sunlight at night? Mr. Nowack said the company would charge about $5,000 an hour for the light of one mirror if a customer signed an annual contract for 1,000 hours or more. Lighting for one-time events and emergencies, which might require numerous satellites and more effort to coordinate, would be more expensive. For solar farms, he envisions splitting revenue from the electricity generated by the additional hours of light.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/climate/space-mirror-satellite-solar.html
Sounds like a great idea (Score:3)
The planet isn't warm enough yet.
Re: (Score:2)
And wildlife isn't having its circadian rhythms sufficiently disrupted by manmade lighting.
Re: (Score:2)
It depends how much CO2 it offsets with solar generation. There could be a net benefit.
The other concern is yet another company wanting to launch a large number of small satellites, which emit on the way up, and then disintegrate in the upper atmosphere after a while. Research is already showing issues stemming from that.
Re: (Score:2)
In most regards I have to disagree on potential impacts, while on one, it appears uncertain.
Large rocket launches emit CO2 comparable (order of magnitude scale) to the emissions of a single transoceanic passenger flight (on the upper end of the spectrum, Starship + Super Heavy = 4,5x of a 747 at max range). If you were launching them at intervals comparable to transoceanic flights, then yes, that's an emissions problem, but nobody is looking at cadences like that in the real world as we know it.
Beyond CO2,
Re: (Score:2)
You overestimate our civilization's ability to deploy reflector area to space.
Ladies and gentlemen (Score:3)
I have placed in orbit a giant mirror that will reflect 40% of the Sun's rays, thus cooling Earth. Observe.
Re: (Score:2)
(shaking my fist angrily) Wernstrom!
An old trick (Score:2)
If this was a sci-fi movie then that mirror would be a weapon. But in this case I assume it's less Spaceballs and more The Producers .
Re: (Score:3)
> If this was a sci-fi movie then that mirror would be a weapon. But in this case I assume it's less Spaceballs and more The Producers .
Just give it time. Eventually, somebody will crack into the network and configure a thousand of them to all point at the same spot at the same time, and then a person or building will evaporate.
Re: An old trick (Score:2)
They can even hack the whole constellation of 50000 and point it at you and you wouldn't even get sunburn. It's a grift. Someone did the math already on this and in the best case scenario, ignoring basically everything that makes this worse, you get a glow on the ground comparable to full moon.
Re: (Score:2)
> and then a person or building will evaporate.
People overestimate how much "point sources" of light orbital mirrors can create. Reflect Orbital's light is spread out across a 5+km area. It's not concentrating a mass of light on a single person.
obligatory archimedes death ray (Score:1)
I guess they want a archimedes death ray in space ?
A non-paywalled link (Score:4, Informative)
At Gadget Review [1]https://www.gadgetreview.com/s... [gadgetreview.com]
[1] https://www.gadgetreview.com/startup-wants-giant-orbital-mirrors-to-turn-night-into-day-scientists-are-horrified
Wave at it and smile (Score:2)
Make it flat, it is a a mirror... make it curved it is a weapon.
"bright as a full moon" (Score:2)
You can stare at the full moon all night if you like, because the albedo of the moon has filtered most of the light including the UV band that naturally passes through our own atmosphere. The three mile circle illuminated by a mirror would bounce a significantly higher amount of UV than the moon's albedo. If you treat the 60ft reflector as an analog to a pinhole in a pinhole camera, the circular area on the Earth surface would be a rough projection of the image of the sun.
(1) I wonder how they calculate
What makes you think they care? (Score:2)
They're just looking for gullible VC funding that they can blow on high salaries and "entertainment" for a few years before the money is gone, they collectively shrug and say "oh well, we tried", then head off looking for the next scam they can fool rich suckers with.
60 feet - 3 miles (Score:2)
The light is reflected onto a patch 250 times as wide as the mirror, or 60,000 times the area. So it's going to be 60,000 times less bright than the sun. That's not going to generate much power.
Re: (Score:2)
this was exactly my observation. It doesn't seem like a good solution to me.
this has already been debunked (Score:1)
watch you tube video "EEVblog 1637: Solar Freakin' Space Mirrors! - Reflect Orbital DEBUNKED"
This is DEFINITLY happening this summer! (Score:3)
I wonder what % of times it actually comes true when people say they're going to do ___ thing in space. 1%? .1%? .01%?
Probably less.
Re: (Score:3)
I know. [1] It seems like somebody comes up with a plan like this every week. [slashdot.org]
[1] https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/02/28/076229/startup-plans-april-launch-for-a-satellite-reflect-sunlight-to-earth-at-night