- The US FCC approved Reflect Orbital's satellite with a 60-foot mirror to reflect sunlight at night
- The satellite aims to shine light four times brighter than a full Moon onto a 5 km-wide area on Earth
- Astronomers warn the satellite could damage eyes, disrupt observations, and harm ecosystems
The US Federal Communications Commission has approved a controversial satellite project designed to reflect sunlight to Earth at night, despite strong objections from astronomers and environmental groups, The New York Times reported. The FCC granted California startup Reflect Orbital permission to launch Earendil-1, which is an experimental satellite equipped with a square mirror roughly 60 feet wide. This is reportedly going to be the first of as many as 50,000 mirror satellites in orbit. According to the report, the company plans to test "sunlight on demand", using the mirror to redirect sunlight onto a spot on Earth after dark. At 640 km altitude, the satellite would unfold its reflector and aim a beam of light at a circular area about 5 kilometres wide on the ground.
Reflect Orbital says the light could be up to four times brighter than a full Moon. The beam would need to repoint every four minutes as the satellite moves.
This is only the first step. The company's long-term goal is to deploy a constellation of up to 50,000 such mirror satellites by 2035. It says the system could extend daylight for solar farms, provide emergency lighting, and serve agriculture and industry.
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Why astronomers and others are alarmed
The American Astronomical Society (AAS) warned that the satellite could cause eye damage to amateur astronomers using telescopes.
As mentioned in the report, the experts say that the reflection could distract airplane pilots and affect astronomical observations. Light several times brighter than a full Moon could also affect human circadian rhythms. The critics say flashes during mirror repointing could temporarily "flash blind" drivers and pilots.
Biologists note that artificial light at night disrupts ecosystems, bird migration, and insect populations.
"It's terrifying to me that one country can change the night sky for everybody in the world," Samantha Lawler, an astronomer at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada, said as quoted by the media outlet.
"I need access to dark skies in order to do my research. If you've got giant mirrors shining down, then we've lost that."
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Earlier this year, while speaking to Space.com, Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society called it "catastrophic" and said it would be "absolutely the destruction of a central part of human heritage".
Olivier Hainaut, an astronomer at the European Southern Observatory, warned that ground-based telescopes could lose 10-30% of pixels in every image. "It kills the telescopes," he told IFLScience.
"We are calling on the FCC to require a full environmental review of these satellite proposals before granting approval," Ruskin Hartley, CEO and Executive Director of Dark Sky International, told IFLScience.
The FCC's response
The FCC said the risks raised "are unrelated to the Commission's role in authorising use of radiofrequency spectrum." It added that even if it had authority to review those operations, "these harms are unlikely to occur."
The approval text cited the Communications Act, saying it is U.S. policy to "encourage the provision of new technologies and services to the public," and called the demonstration satellite "a potentially groundbreaking technology that the Commission has found is in the public interest to support."
