A space mirror satellite is an orbiting spacecraft that features a large deployable reflective surface. Its purpose is to redirect sunlight and beam it down to a specific location on Earth. It would basically provide sunlight on demand.
The federal government has approved plans by the company Reflect Orbital to launch a test satellite into orbit this year. The company eventually wants to send tens of thousands of them into space.
The prototype satellite, which would orbit about 400 miles up, would unfurl a 60-foot-wide square mirror. Sunlight bouncing off the mirror would illuminate a circular patch about three miles wide on the Earth’s surface. Later satellites would be much larger.
The company argues that it would be slowing climate change by allowing solar power to operate after sunset and thereby reduce the burning of fossil fuels.
What could possibly go wrong? The proposed technology is vehemently opposed by astronomers, wildlife experts, and many others who say that the light from the mirrors would distract airline pilots, greatly inhibit astronomical observations, and disrupt the circadian rhythms that help people, animals, and plants know when to wake, when to sleep, when to bloom, and when to migrate.
If thousands of space mirror satellites orbit the Earth, they will impact the environment in multiple ways, affecting human health, agriculture, and wildlife.
For its part, the government is claiming that activities in space are not subject to environmental regulations and review and that its approval is only for a test of novel technology.
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References:
F.C.C. Approves Test of Space Mirror to Light Night Sky Despite Outcry
