Overview
- Reflect Orbital proposes satellites with large mirrors to redirect sunlight to specific locations at night for about four minutes per pass.
- The Royal Astronomical Society and the European Southern Observatory have filed FCC objections, warning the project could make the night sky three to four times brighter.
- Astronomers say individual beams could reach up to roughly four times the brightness of a full moon and risk contaminating telescope images and wider skies beyond target areas.
- The company has applied to the FCC, plans initial prototype launches later this year, and outlines a path to about 50,000 satellites by 2035 with pricing around $5,000 per hour.
- Reflect Orbital cites potential uses from disaster response to boosting solar output, says lights are dimmable with exclusion zones, and has raised more than $28 million including backing reported from Sequoia.