Well, this is yet another nightmare in the the continuing saga of “they can’t get away with this, can they?””
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/climate/fcc-space-mirror.html
A start-up company has permission to try its plan to bounce solar rays onto the dark side of Earth, turning night to day for a three-mile-wide patch.
…In a license issued on Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission gave the green light for Reflect Orbital of Hawthorne, Calif., to launch its Eärendil-1 satellite into low Earth orbit. The company plans to deploy its test satellite this year but has said it eventually wants to send as many as 50,000 big mirrors into space.
The approval came despite a flood of opposition from astronomers, wildlife experts and others who say the light from the mirrors could distract airplane pilots, wreak havoc on astronomical observations and interfere with circadian rhythms, the light-and-dark cycles that help people, animals and plants know when to wake and sleep, to bloom or to migrate.
Here’s an articale that doesn’t seem to be paywalled:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/fcc-approves-reflect-orbitals-giant-mirror-satellite-that-astronomers-hate
The FCC says the most controversial aspect of Reflect Orbital’s Earendil-1 satellite, its giant mirror, falls outside its authority since the regulator mainly focuses on radio spectrum.
…The approval is only for one satellite, dubbed Earendil-1, which is meant to test Reflect Orbital’s technology for shining sunlight back to Earth. The satellite will boast a steerable thin-film reflector measuring about 60 feet by 60 feet, with the goal of powering solar farms at night or illuminating disaster-struck areas after dark to help rescue teams.
All I know is that the thousands of Musk-elites that interrupt my night sky are bad enough – this sounds like a total nightmare! I hope there is an off switch that can be thrown as soon as sanity returns to government!
We’ll get straight to the point: The financial hardships that Daily Kos is facing this year are tough.
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