"Reflect Orbital says its space mirrors could allow solar power plants to operate 24 hours a day, provide lighting for disaster-struck regions, and even replace street lights. The company has already applied to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which issues licences for satellites, and the enormous mirror could launch as soon as this summer."
"Martha Hotz Vitaterna, a neurobiologist at Northwestern University and co-director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology, warned: 'The implications for wildlife, for all life, are enormous.' Reflect Orbital, which has already raised more than $28 million from investors, is not the first group to dream about harnessing the sun with mirrors."
"The company says it plans to harness the vast quantities of sunlight that normally pass Earth by, and sell it on demand to people, companies and governments. The biggest appeal will be for the growing solar power industry, which is currently facing the unavoidable problem that solar panels can't generate electricity."
Reflect Orbital, a California-based startup, is developing a controversial space mirror system to provide on-demand sunlight to Earth. The company plans to launch a 60-foot prototype mirror to orbit at 400 miles altitude, capable of illuminating a three-mile-wide area with light as bright as the moon. The mirrors could enable solar power plants to operate continuously, provide emergency lighting for disaster regions, and replace street lights. The company has already raised over $28 million and applied to the FCC for launch permission, potentially launching this summer. However, neurobiologists and environmental scientists express serious concerns about the plan's implications for wildlife and circadian rhythms. This concept builds on earlier experiments, including Russia's 1993 Znamya satellite, but Reflect Orbital's ambition to deploy 50,000 mirrors represents a significantly larger-scale undertaking.
Read at Mail Online
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