This company’s plan to launch 4,000 massive space mirrors has scientists alarmed: ‘From an astronomical perspective, that’s pretty catastrophic’ | Californian start-up Reflect Orbital plan to operate a constellation of more than 4000 solar reflectors to boost solar power production in twilight hours
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/satellites/this-companys-plan-to-launch-4-000-massive-space-mirrors-has-scientists-alarmed-from-an-astronomical-perspective-thats-pretty-catastrophic
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and the mirrors will spell out….”Drink your Ovaltine”
Edit: seriously.. I don’t think we are that far off from this sort of crap
This sounds like one of those ideas than never make it past taking investors’ money.
This sounds like one of the least-efficient ways to generate and store power.
Scientists plan to do shit that scientists think is shit. Lmao.
Someone beat them to it lol
Thousands of reflective objects in space before humans had anything up there
[Transients in the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS-I) may be associated with nuclear testing and reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-21620-3)
Completely ridiculous. Even 4000 18mx18m mirrors would only end up reflecting an area of sunlight that is about 1 square km. The numbers for this just aren’t going to number.
Consider the difference between this, and simply having better utility interconnection lines that run East-West to allow regions not currently in the sun to power neighboring regions. (And of course batteries, which are already dramatically altering how solar supplies electricity in California).
It’s for the new Phantom Zone immigrant detention program.
Any space mirror capable of redirecting enough solar power to improve PV output is also weaponizable. Imagine using it to cook an enemy’s military base, melt an ice dam, or make a front line position uninhabitable. Governments will not be happy about this.