Tag: Reflect Orbital

  • A Million Satellites Could Create a Visible Ring Around Earth

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    Will Orbital Data Centers Create a Permanent Artificial Ring Around Earth? More than a million data center satellites and 50,000 space mirrors, if launched as currently proposed, would concentrate into a single orbital plane visible as a luminous band spanning the entire sky — brighter than any star or planet, and according to researchers, potentially…

  • Reflect Orbital Clears FCC for First Space Mirror Launch

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    Is Reflect Orbital’s Space Mirror Constellation Legal to Launch? California-based startup Reflect Orbital has received a license from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate its first demonstration satellite, Eärendil-1 — a spacecraft designed to unfurl a reflective surface measuring approximately 18 meters (60 feet) on a side. The license, announced July…

  • FCC Greenlights Reflect Orbital’s 18m Sun Mirror Sat

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    Does the FCC Have Authority to Regulate Space-Based Sunlight Mirrors? The FCC said no — and on July 9, it formally authorized Eärendil-1, Reflect Orbital’s 142-kilogram demonstrator satellite equipped with an 18-meter-per-side thin-film reflector designed to bounce sunlight onto nighttime regions of Earth. The spacecraft is planned for launch later this year into a low…