"From our perspective, this is clearly an unprecedented assault on the nighttime environment. Everything we know about the impact of light at night shows that it has a tremendous impact on ecology, on wildlife, plants, animals, fish, and, of course, on humans as well. We're extremely concerned that this [will] go forward."
"I'm really excited to bring the most powerful resource in the entire solar system into everybody's daily life in all the ways that matter the most to people. The sun powers 99% of life on Earth. It grows all the plants. We use a ton of sunlight in solar power, but we can't use it at night. So I'm really excited to bring solar energy to nighttime."
Reflect Orbital, a Los Angeles-based startup, seeks regulatory approval to launch satellites equipped with 60-foot mirrors that reflect sunlight onto Earth's surface at night. The company aims to provide on-demand artificial illumination for solar farms, industrial sites, agriculture, city streets, and defense operations, charging a minimum of $5,000 per hour. The startup plans to deploy 1,000 satellites by 2029 and 50,000 by 2035. However, environmental scientists and organizations like DarkSky International strongly oppose the project, citing unprecedented disruption to nighttime ecosystems and harmful effects on wildlife, plants, animals, fish, and human health. The Federal Communications Commission is currently evaluating whether to license the prototype satellite.
#space-technology #environmental-impact #artificial-illumination #regulatory-approval #ecological-concerns
Read at SFGATE
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