The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved an application from Reflect Orbital to launch Eärendil-1, a satellite designed to reflect sunlight back to Earth. The satellite, roughly the size of a bedside table, will orbit 400 miles above the surface and use a 60-foot mirror to illuminate three-mile-wide patches of ground on demand, a move that has drawn significant criticism from the global astronomical and biological communities.
The Mechanics of Orbiting Mirrors
Reflect Orbital’s Eärendil-1 project aims to turn “night into day” by positioning a large, foldable mirror in low Earth orbit. According to the company, the satellite will bounce sunlight toward specific, customer-designated coordinates. The company’s co-founder, Ben Nowack, stated that the service is intended to cost $5,000 per hour, provided the client commits to a minimum of 1,000 hours of usage annually. This pricing structure suggests that individual photographers are unlikely to be the primary market; instead, the company is looking toward industrial applications, such as providing additional light for solar farms that lose generation capacity after sunset.
Did you know?
Reflect Orbital has disclosed plans to eventually deploy a constellation of 1,000 satellites, each 180 feet wide. The company claims this fleet could reflect the equivalent light of 100 full moons.
Astronomical Opposition and the “Dark Sky” Debate
The FCC’s decision to greenlight the project has sparked intense backlash from researchers who rely on dark skies. Samantha Lawler, an astronomer at the University of Regina, told The New York Times that the ability for a single country to unilaterally alter the night sky for the entire planet is “terrifying.” Lawler emphasizes that the presence of giant, light-reflecting structures threatens the viability of essential astronomical research, which requires minimal light pollution to observe the universe.
Biological Risks of Altered Night Cycles
Beyond astronomy, scientists warn that the deployment of these mirrors could have systemic effects on the natural world. A group of biologists from Europe, the U.S., Japan, and Canada told The Guardian that such technology would represent a “significant alteration of the natural night-time light environment at a planetary scale.” Experts argue that disrupting the natural light-dark cycle could negatively impact circadian rhythms in humans and animals, interfere with migratory patterns, and disrupt plant growth cycles and phytoplankton populations, which are foundational to marine life.
Future Trends in Orbital Illumination
Frequently Asked Questions
- How big is the Eärendil-1 mirror? The satellite features a square mirror measuring nearly 60 feet across.
- Who is the target customer for this service? Reflect Orbital has indicated that solar farms, which require sunlight to generate electricity, are a primary target, alongside potential emergency services.
- Why are biologists concerned? Researchers fear that artificial light from orbit will disrupt circadian rhythms, animal migration, and essential biological processes like plant cycles and phytoplankton activity.
- What is the cost of using the satellite? The company plans to charge $5,000 per hour for the service, with a prerequisite commitment of 1,000 hours per year.
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