Reflect Orbital

Background

The concept of placing reflective surfaces in orbit to redirect sunlight to the ground predates Reflect Orbital by roughly a century. It was first described by the physicist Hermann Oberth, who from 1923 proposed large orbital mirrors to light the surface and influence the climate. The only such device flown before was Znamya, designed by the Soviet Union and launched by Russia. Znamya 2, deployed from a Progress cargo craft near the Mir space station in February 1993, unfurled a 20 m mylar reflector and briefly cast a moonlight-bright, roughly 5 km spot across Europe. The follow-on mission, Znamya 2.5, failed during deployment in 1999 due to human error.

History

Reflect Orbital was founded in October 2021 by Ben Nowack and Tristan Semmelhack in Santa Monica, California. Nowack is a former aerospace engineer from SpaceX and Semmelhack is a former mechanical engineer at Zipline who dropped out of Stanford University in December 2022 to join Nowack as co-founder.

In March 2024, Reflect Orbital published a demonstration of a square mirror roughly 2.5 m (8 ft) across (about 6 m2 or 64 sq ft) being robotically controlled from a hot air balloon to redirect sunlight onto solar panels on the ground during twilight. In one test, the reflected beam delivered about 516 W/m2 to instruments 242 m below. By the end of 2025, the company had received more than 260,000 inquiries relating to nighttime illumination for construction projects, public events, search and rescue efforts, military operations, and disaster relief.

The company has designed two proof-of-concept satellite missions intended to reflect light at low intensity comparable to moonlight, both manifested on SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare launches in 2026. As of July 2026 the FCC had licensed only the first, Eärendil-1. Reflect applied to the Satellite Licensing Division of the FCC for a license to launch and operate a constellation of satellites beginning in 2027. Nowack stated that the company aims by 2030 to field enough satellites to supply solar farms with about 200 W/m2, comparable to sunlight at dawn or dusk, during the evening peak in electricity demand. He described a longer-term goal of as many as 50,000 reflector satellites in low Earth orbit by 2035.

On July 9, 2026, the FCC authorized the construction, launch and operation of Eärendil-1, its first satellite, and issued a two-year authorization for the spacecraft's radio communications. The commission characterized the reflector as a potentially groundbreaking technology whose testing served the public interest, limited the grant to the single demonstration satellite, and concluded that effects on optical astronomy fell outside its regulatory jurisdiction; it also noted the company's commitments to work with NASA and the National Science Foundation to protect optical astronomy. The application had drawn more than 1,800 public comments, many of them opposed.

The company's plans have been criticized as having the potential to cause light pollution and interfere with the night sky. Astronomers are concerned that a constellation of bright orbiting objects will interfere with observational astronomy.

A peer-reviewed study by the astronomer Olivier Hainaut of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), published in Astronomy & Astrophysics in July 2026 identified Reflect Orbital's planned fleet as the brightest of the roughly 1.7 million satellites proposed by various operators. An observer within a reflected beam would see the satellite shining about four times brighter than the full moon, although outside the beam, the satellite would be roughly as bright as the planet Venus. With the full constellation of 50,000 satellites, ESO estimated the night sky would become three to four times brighter overall, and warned that illumination from a single mirror-satellite could ruin an exposure from a camera like that of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Dark sky advocates have argued that manipulating night-time illumination poses a threat to the health of humans and wildlife by affecting circadian rhythms.

In response, the company has said it would work closely with astronomers during its 2026 demonstration mission to minimize impacts on observations and the night sky. Reflect Orbital stated that it designs for safety by limiting reflected light to a target spot, steering away from sensitive areas such as observatories or protected habitats, and retaining the ability to switch off at any time so that no light is reflected down. The company also says that the light will not be intense enough to start fires or harm eyes, even when viewed through amateur telescopes, and cannot be concentrated beyond the natural irradiance of sunlight.