FCC Approves Reflect Orbital's Mirror Satellite for Night-Time Earth Illumination
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has approved Reflect Orbital to launch a satellite equipped with a large mirror designed to reflect sunlight and illuminate areas of Earth during nighttime hours.
The satellite, named Eärendil-1, represents an attempt to use orbital reflectors to supplement natural lighting on Earth. However, the project has drawn sharp criticism from the astronomical community.
The European Southern Observatory expressed grave concerns about the initiative, stating that "for optical astronomy, this poses an existential threat." Astronomers worry that reflected sunlight from such satellites could interfere with ground-based telescopes and compromise scientific observations of the night sky.
The approval highlights the growing tension between commercial space ventures and scientific research as satellite constellations become increasingly common in orbit.