According to the company, these satellites will use massive mirrors to reflect sunlight onto solar farms, providing an additional source of clean energy at night.
"We want to provide sunlight even after sunset, using simple and effective technology ," said Ben Nowak, the company's founder, in a video posted on the X platform.
A tentative beginning... and a potentially bleak end for the sky.
The plan begins with the launch of an 18-meter-wide experimental satellite, Earendil-1, in 2026, paving the way for the deployment of approximately 4,000 satellites in orbit by 2030.
The satellites' reflective mirrors will be 54 meters wide and orbit at an altitude of 625 kilometers above Earth's surface. The goal, according to the company, is to generate the equivalent of 20 percent of the sun's light at noon (about 200 watts/m²), powering the solar panels even after sunset.
But astronomers have warned that this project could lead to massive artificial light pollution, disrupting astronomical observatories and distorting the natural view of the sky.
Brighter than the full moon... and 15,000 times fainter than the sun
According to expert analysis, the light from a single artificial moon would be 15,000 times fainter than the sun at noon, but it would still be brighter than a full moon, making its appearance in the sky highly noticeable, even to the naked eye.
An experiment conducted by the company's founder using a balloon and small mirrors showed that it was possible to generate half the intensity of sunlight from just 240 meters away.
But to replicate this experiment from orbit would require a mirror 42 square kilometers in size – making the idea technically unrealistic.
Minutes of light... thousands of moons
Even if Reflect Orbital succeeds in launching the satellites as planned, each satellite will pass over any point on Earth for only 3.5 minutes.
“To achieve one hour of continuous light, it would take thousands of additional satellites,” read an analysis by The Conversation, which described the project as “an impractical and dangerous idea for our planet’s visual environment.”
A growing debate between innovation and environmental threats
Some describe the project as an ambitious innovation that will promote clean energy, but astronomers and environmentalists argue that Reflect Orbital threatens to distort the night sky and open the door to irresponsible space commercialization.
“We don’t want a sky lit up by advertising or artificial reflectors,” a prominent astronomer said in a statement for DarkSky International. “We want to preserve the natural darkness that has characterized Earth’s night for millions of years.”
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