#reflect-orbital — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #reflect-orbital, aggregated by home.social.
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Article referenced in the commentary, from November 2025.
Seeking Profits, Private Companies Look to Light up the Night Sky
Reflect Orbital’s plan to deliver “sunlight on demand” using thousands of giant orbital mirrors is just the latest in a growing list of disruptive commercial activities in space
#ArtificialSunlight #SpaceMirrors
#DarkSkies #SpacePollution #LightPollution #BadIdea #ReflectOrbital #USPol -
Selling the Sun
Commentary by cartoonist #JenSorensen :
"The FCC just approved the test launch of a space mirror-bearing satellite from a company called Reflect Orbital. The plan is to test one mirror this year, and scale up to a 'constellation' of 50,000 by 2035.
For a few years now, the company has been touting the illumination of solar farms at night as the primary reason for the mirrors. Setting aside whether this is feasible or even a priority in a country that is doing its best to undermine solar power, the company is openly promoting other, less noble uses: extending working hours at industrial sites, replacing streetlights in urban areas, and (as I mentioned in the comic) 'unforgettable nighttime experiences.'
For more background on why space mirrors are a bad idea, I recommend this Scientific American article from last year. Interestingly, this is not the first time this concept has been tried. Russia launched a prototype in the 1990s and abandoned the project. "
Source:
https://jensorensen.com/2026/07/15/selling-the-sun/#ArtificialSunlight #SpaceMirrors #DarkSkies #SpacePollution #LightPollution #BadIdea #ReflectOrbital #USPol
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@space_environmentalism It'll be a desaster. I don't want these mirrors above my head. I prefer a dark sky. I know, @sundogplanets is trying to fight against this horrible plan. And I keep my fingers crossed for her.
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"Each of the sun-reflecting mirrors proposed by U.S.-based startup Reflect Orbital will appear 40 times brighter than the full moon to observers standing within its beam on Earth, a study has found. The light pollution produced by each of those mirrors would completely wipe out stars from the sky for those underneath them, turning the starry night into an eerie twilight zone."
#Space #SpaceEnvironment #SunlightAsAService #ReflectOrbital
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My petition/Astromobile
Pétition Stop au miroir orbital Reflect Orbital, préservez le ciel nocturne
https://mcinformactions.net/spip.php?article232096&lang=fr
#ReflectOrbital #pollutionLumineuse -
"This isn't really a story about one satellite. It's a story about who gets to decide what the sky looks like. Eärendil-1 already cleared the FCC in July, over more than 1,800 public comments and formal objections from the American Astronomical Society and dark sky groups, on the reasoning that light pollution and astronomical interference simply aren't the FCC's problem to regulate. Nobody else has claimed that job either."
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-brightened-night-sky-nobody-actually-wanted
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New Brunswick’s :flagnb: astronomers are worried about Reflect Orbital’s plan to shine light on night
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/astronomy-reflect-orbital-sunlight-on-demand-new-brunswick-9.7307518
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Les astronomes du Nouveau-Brunswick :flagnb: sont préoccupés des plans de Reflect Orbital de faire briller la lumière en pleine nuit// Article en anglais //
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"More clean, renewable energy and help during a crisis — what’s not to like? If you ask astronomers, there are plenty of concerns. The satellite will be strikingly bright. The consequences range from disrupting scientific observations to concerns over the safety of the public, including the potential for permanent eye damage for anyone unlucky enough to be using a telescope in the wrong place at the wrong time."
https://www.theverge.com/science/976977/space-mirror-reflect-orbital-fcc-solar-eye-damage
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"Four environmental organizations filed a petition Thursday asking the Federal Communications Commission to reverse approval of a startup’s plan to beam on-demand sunlight from #space to Earth, arguing the agency ignored the project’s potential impacts on wildlife, astronomy research and eye safety."
#Satellites #SpacePolicy #ReflectOrbital #SunlightAsAService #FCC
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#ntv:
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.. "verheerende Auswirkungen"
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"Satelliten sollen Licht auf Solarfelder und Nutzpflanzen werfen"
"Satelliten wären die einzigen "Sterne" über einer Großstadt"
"SpaceX plant solarbetriebene Rechenzentren im All"
"Keine offizielle Obergrenze für die Satellitenzahl"
"Schutzkappen für Satelliten waren ungeeignet"2.8.2026
#Astronomie #Eärendil1 #ESO #Lichtverschmutzung #Nachthimmel #Raumfahrt #ReflectOrbital #Satelliten #SpaceFlight #SpaceX #Umweltverschmutzung
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"'They're saying we want to launch 50,000 mirrors by 2035,' Benvenuti said. 'That would be catastrophic for astronomy, that is clear.'"
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/reflect-orbital-approval-fcc-9.7287535
#Astronomy #ReflectOrbital #SunlightAsAService #FCC #SpacePolicy
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USA’s 🇺🇸 FCC approved a giant space mirror to deliver 'sunlight on demand’ with implications for all the other regions of the World
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/reflect-orbital-approval-fcc-9.7287535
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La FCC des États-Unis d’Amérique 🇺🇸 a approuvée un miroir spatial géant pour livrer de « l’ensoleillement sur demande » avec des implications pour toutes les autres régions du monde -
No More Than 100,000 Satellites in the Sky if We Want to Preserve Astronomy https://petapixel.com/2026/07/28/no-more-than-100000-satellites-in-the-sky-if-we-want-to-preserve-astronomy/ #astrophotography #reflectorbital #satellites #astronomy #telescope #universe #spacex #Space
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I assume a Concentrated Solar Power Plant, with modifications to aim the receiving mirror, would make a rather effective and ironic means of taking out #ReflectOrbital satellites.
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this also solves the #ReflectOrbital issue
launch them into orbit, and a #techBro who wants to catch the Sun at odd times because "woah cool" vibing, they can catch the sun at 11 PM, 1 AM, 3AM... all sorts of unnatural times as they whizz around the Earth
rather than subjecting other people and the natural world to the stunt and messing with circadian rhythms
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U.S. approval of giant ‘space mirror’ satellite alarms astronomers
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-approval-of-giant-space-mirror-satellite-alarms-astronomers/ via @SciAm
"The planet’s darkest skies could become about as bright as the heavens above a suburban town[...] For astronomers, it could make much of their observational work effectively impossible."
#astronomy #lightpollution #pollution #wildlife #biodiversity #health #reflectorbital
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Observers Beware: Reflect Orbital’s Space Mirrors Approved for Launch
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/observers-beware-reflect-orbitals-space-mirrors-approved-for-launch/ via Sky & Telescope
#astronomy #lightpollution #pollution #health #biodiversity #reflectorbital
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Stop au miroir orbital Reflect Orbital, préservez le ciel nocturne
La pétition :
https://www.mypetition.org/petition/nature-environnement/stop-miroir-orbital-reflect-orbital-preservez/283849#astronomy #lightpollution #pollution #wildlife #biodiversity #health #reflectorbital
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@sundogplanets
I did enjoy this review about #ReflectOrbital though. 😊 -
US Approves Gigantic Satellite Mirror That Will Illuminate the Earth at Night https://petapixel.com/2026/07/17/us-approves-gigantic-satellite-mirror-that-will-illuminate-the-earth-at-night/ #artificiallight #satellitemirror #lightpollution #reflectorbital #Technology #nighttime #daylight #sunlight #mirror #Space #News #moon
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A #SpaceMirror Will Test Turning Night Into Day. What To Know About the Controversial Project
by Jeffrey Kluger, Jul 14, 2026
Excerpt: "The company envisions multiple uses for sun-reflecting satellites: assisting search and rescue operations, allowing construction projects to operate around the clock, charging solar power stations, increasing crop yield. But critics cite all manner of risks. Human and animal #CircadianRhythms could be badly affected if the sun—or a simulacrum of it—never sets. The practice of changing the clocks by a mere hour twice a year is already known to mess with human sleep-wake cycles, after all. Plants could bloom when they shouldn’t and die before their time. Orbital mirrors flashing and winking back to Earth could distract airline pilots. Finally, #LightPollution is already interfering with astronomical observations—a problem made even worse by satellite constellations like #SpaceX’s 10,000-strong #Starlink fleet. #ReflectOrbital’s 50,000 birds would dwarf even that."
Read more:
https://time.com/article/2026/07/14/reflect-orbital-space-mirror-what-to-know/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/P4uaz#NightSkies #ElonSucks
#SpacePollution #SunReflectingSatellites #BadIdeas #SpaceTechBros #SendTechBrosToMars #FCCFail #BrendanCarr #WTF -
That orbital mirror thing would be excellent for Mars and other worlds, not for Earth.
Just stop fucking around up there, you don't have that right over the Commons.
This arrogance will Kessler us all! -
Mr Burns already solved the #ReflectOrbital problem folks!
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@greenpeace Aren’t these mad mirror people hoping to charge for sunlight. #ReflectOrbital