Giant Orbital Mirrors and Other Commercial Space Plans Raise Alarm for Night Skies, Wildlife and Safety

Giant mirrors in orbit and a new commercial space frontier

Tech companies are proposing increasingly bold — and controversial — projects for Earth orbit and beyond. Reflect Orbital, a start-up based in Hawthorne, Calif., has drawn particular attention with its proposal to beam sunlight from space to Earth to boost solar farms, illuminate events and create other “sunlight on demand” services. The company plans to test a first satellite, EARENDIL-1, in 2026 and has discussed a long-term constellation of thousands of mirror-equipped craft.

What Reflect Orbital proposes

Reflect Orbital says EARENDIL-1 will be placed at roughly 600 km altitude and deploy an 18 × 18 meter reflective mirror (about twice the area of a volleyball court) to redirect sunlight to the surface. The firm has obtained backing from investors including Sequoia Capital and Baiju Bhatt and received a $1.25 million Small Business Innovation Research award from the U.S. Air Force. The company envisions expanding to a constellation of up to 4,000 satellites by 2030, with each satellite capable of casting a beam roughly 5 km wide and — the company estimates — several times brighter than the full moon within the central spot.

Technical and environmental challenges

Engineers and astronomers highlight many practical hurdles. Large reflective structures risk overheating, require precise station-keeping and fine pointing control, and must maintain stable orientation while orbiting rapidly. A single low-Earth-orbit satellite can illuminate a single ground target for only a few minutes before another satellite must take over, requiring a daisy-chain of craft to sustain illumination for longer periods.

Atmospheric scattering and clouds would reduce beam intensity, and transmission losses over the atmosphere and long distances could be substantial. As Darren McKnight of LeoLabs puts it, the individual technologies may be feasible, “but don’t put it all together” without appreciating the combined engineering complexity.

“There are already solutions right here on Earth to many of the problems ‘sunlight as a service’ purports to solve. This approach is simply a reckless and inefficient use of Earth orbit, a precious and finite resource.” — group of astronomers

Impacts on astronomy, wildlife and public skies

Even if a beam is tightly controlled, scattered light will make satellites brighter to ground observers. John Barentine of Dark Sky Consulting and other astronomers warn that mirror-equipped constellations could create persistent, high-visibility streaks and glints that interfere with astronomical observations and spoil the night sky for casual stargazers. There are also ecological concerns: concentrated or repeated night-time illumination can disrupt nocturnal wildlife and ecosystems.

Part of a broader commercialization trend

Reflect Orbital’s proposal is one of many recent commercial concepts that critics say threaten the night sky or raise safety and legal questions. Examples include SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper megaconstellations, AST SpaceMobile’s bright BlueWalker demonstrator, planned space advertisements by Avant Space, and ALE’s proposals for on-demand artificial meteor showers. Past provocative payloads include a Tesla Roadster launched on a test flight, tardigrades unintentionally carried to the Moon on Beresheet, and privately arranged lunar memorials with cremated remains.

Regulation, stewardship and research value

National regulators such as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communications Commission oversee aspects of commercial launches and orbital operations, but experts say rules need updating to address new risks. Aaron Boley of the Outer Space Institute points to the Outer Space Treaty’s principle that states must have “due regard” for others and argues for stronger oversight and international cooperation to preserve Earth orbit and the Moon as shared heritage.

Most experts do not call for an outright ban on ambitious ideas. Some strategic, high-risk R&D can produce useful spin-offs. Yet many observers stress that ambition must be balanced with careful assessment of safety, environmental impacts and long-term stewardship of shared orbital resources.

Bottom line

Reflect Orbital’s EARENDIL-1 test and its proposed expansion highlight a growing tension between commercial opportunity and public-interest priorities in space. The debate raises technical, environmental, legal and ethical questions that regulators, scientists and the public will increasingly need to resolve as private actors expand their presence in orbit.