Front page view of Reflect Orbital’s home page, ostensibly illustrating their product illuminating a 5 km section of the ground set against a dark, starry night sky. This is all marketing, all of it!
Public service post and opinion by James Daly, Ph.D.
All of us who have been doing astronomy, professionally or as a hobby, for much of their lives, never really had to worry that the night sky itself would be gone, in whole or in part — until now. After all, the sky and the universe is so vast, how could the mind of man conceive of a way to block, remove or destroy that limitless vista for us Earth dwellers?
Well, given enough greed, creativity and –stupidity– it could happen.
The tech assault on our night sky began with the deployment of Starlink by Elon Musk’s SpaceX (the original assault began decades earlier with the large-scale deployment of unregulated street and outdoor lighting — that’s a topic for another conversation). Major observatories and the famed Hubble Space Telescope have been photo-bombed many times by one of the many disgusting “Satellite Constellation” trains, the term coined to describe what they (the satellites) look like following their launch and on their way to low earth orbit.
Well, it seems now that two new, really stupid ideas (there’s really no other way of describing them) may just top Starlink:
and now —wait for it—- ready?
Reflectors in orbit! That’s right, idiots, fresh out of college with a lot of money to burn from venture capitalists seeking new and more creative ways to “invest”, have created “Reflect Orbital”.
Their sole selling point is to illuminate the surface of the earth at night FROM LOW EARTH ORBIT!
It’s no wonder, then, after reading his bio, the CEO did a stint at SpaceX.
Although a search for Reflect Orbital as a new tech startup did not include Y-Combinator (many new tech startups begin here), it did yield the following:
- Founding is noted as occurring in 2021 or 2022 (TechCrunch via Sequoia mentions 2022)
- they received funding from well-known investors such as Lux Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Starship Ventures, including a $20 million Series A in May–July 2025
American Astronomical Society Public Policy Statement and Comment Form
An excerpt from a recent update post at the American Astronomical Society’s news page describes it really well, along with suggestions on how to make your voice heard and mount an effective response:
The AAS policy team is requesting input from astronomers, observatories, and night sky users worldwide regarding the potential impacts of Reflect Orbital’s proposed reflector satellites on astronomical research and night sky visibility. Reflect Orbital is a satellite company that plans to deliver reflected sunlight at night by building a constellation of reflectors in low Earth orbit. These satellites are expected to reflect ~0.8 lux (4-5x the brightness of the full Moon) to a ~5 km diameter beam on Earth’s surface. The company has recently requested authorization from the FCC to launch their first satellite (with a size of 18 x 18 m) in 2026. Reflect Orbital intends to launch dozens more within the next two years and 4,000 satellites by 2030, with the goal of increasing daylight by four hours each day where they are providing service. We are collecting information about the scope and nature of potential impacts to help develop our response to their FCC filing. Please fill out our survey here. It should take no longer than five minutes to complete.
Key sentences at the top and bottom of the excerpt link to a comment form where you can make your voice heard:
“The AAS policy team is requesting input from astronomers, observatories, and night sky users worldwide regarding the potential impacts of Reflect Orbital’s proposed reflector satellites on astronomical research and night sky visibility.”
and
“Please fill out our survey here. It should take no longer than five minutes to complete.”
Quality of Life and Health
This threat isn’t just about astronomers’ desire to protect the intrinsic character of the night sky, it’s a health and quality of life issue as well.
When deployed, these satellites will create a profound alteration of the night sky in ways that cannot not now be imagined. This alteration will directly affect not only ground-based astronomical research but all ground-based observational astronomy in general. New, next generation telescopes are online or soon to be online and fully operational (the Rubin Telescope is now online in the commissioning phase). By allowing Billboards in Orbit and this new assault by Reflect Orbital, these new telescopes could very well become new white elephants.
The aesthetic beauty of the pristine night sky is unmatched in all of history. The deployment and use of these satellites will profoundly detract from that beauty.
Even though the illuminated area is “only” about 5 km wide, the right of those individuals within that area to enjoy the night and a dark sky without intrusion, and all that this entails, will be infringed. Moreover and perhaps more important, the adverse health effects arising from sleep loss and circadian rhythm disruption cannot now be known.
Possible Abuse of Power?
A final thought: what would the abuse of such a technology look like? Think about the 4th amendment abuses possible if these satellites are ultimately deployed and fall into the wrong hands. It will be interesting to see how the vetting of their proposal plays out with the FCC and government regulators.
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