US company to send giant mirror to space so it can sell reflected sunlight

Starblazer

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates tech, approved a license for a 142kg ‘single demonstration satellite’ on Thursday.

Eärendil-1, about the size of a fridge, will unfurl a thin 60-foot square mirror that reflects the sun’s rays to illuminate a three-mile-wide stretch of Earth.

You would see a dot about as bright as the full moon in the sky, according to maker Reflect Orbital’s website. The company aims to send its first space mirror up this year, with the aim of launching 50,000 satellites by 2035.

They plan to charge about $5,000 an hour for the light of one mirror if a customer signed up for a year-long contract. The light for one-time events or emergencies would be more costly.
 
They plan to charge about $5,000 an hour for the light of one mirror if a customer signed up for a year-long contract. The light for one-time events or emergencies would be more costly.
What if I am their neighbour and I don't sign up? I hope they don't encode the sunlight. :)

May inverse square law be with them.
 
The future: multi-billionaires living in Mars and poor people still living in the destroyed Earth needing to pay a subscription to have access to drinkable water and sunlight. Businesses using it to make people work more and extend working hours.

I'm so glad I'm going to die one day
 
What if I am their neighbour and I don't sign up? I hope they don't encode the sunlight. :)

May inverse square law be with them.
I thought about the same. People watching "big ball in Vegas" on youtube may be amazed by it, but it's a nuisance to the neighbors. This reflected sunlight could make people around the target area sleep-deprived.

This project reminded me of the diamond laser from James Bond films Diamonds Are Forever and Die Another Day. Icarus in Die Another Day is an orbital satellite capable of focusing concentrated solar energy into a deadly laser.
 
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates tech, approved a license for a 142kg ‘single demonstration satellite’ on Thursday.

Eärendil-1, about the size of a fridge, will unfurl a thin 60-foot square mirror that reflects the sun’s rays to illuminate a three-mile-wide stretch of Earth.

You would see a dot about as bright as the full moon in the sky, according to maker Reflect Orbital’s website. The company aims to send its first space mirror up this year, with the aim of launching 50,000 satellites by 2035.

They plan to charge about $5,000 an hour for the light of one mirror if a customer signed up for a year-long contract. The light for one-time events or emergencies would be more costly.
If spending $5,000 an hour to buy sunlight only results in my laundry drying faster, then it’s simply not worth the cost. :rolleyes:
 
$5K for an hour of tanning seems to e a good investment here up north.
 
For a while, it looks smart, but stupid at the same time. I don't know why.
 
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