There are any number of things in nature that we should just leave well enough alone. The day-night cycle is one of those things. Every form of life that lives on the surface of the earth, from mountaintops to shallow seas, depends on and is adapted to that day-night cycle; its called a circadian rhythm, and we humans have them, too, which is why some people find the exaggerated cycles of daylight and darkness at high altitudes to be problematic.
Knowing that, you can see how messing with that cycle can be problematic. We've seen schemes along these lines before, usually proposed in the name of anthropogenic climate change. Some schemes call for using particulates in the atmosphere to partially obscure sunlight, or giant mirrors to reflect some sunlight back into space. But now, a company is proposing satellites to do just the opposite: To shine reflected sunlight down on earth at night. The stated reasons for this are, well, nonsensical.
And yet the company, Los Angeles-based Reflect Orbital, has conducted a ground-level test that's leaving us asking, "why?"
Just when you think Silicon Valley has run out of ways to meddle with nature, along comes a company with a plan to shine sunlight onto the nighttime side of Earth using giant mirrors in orbit. Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently, the Moon, stars, and the natural cycle of day and night are no longer sufficient for our technologically ambitious friends.
According to a recent San Francisco Chronicle report, residents near Lone Pine, California, got an unexpected preview of this bright idea on Saturday, October 10th.
Shortly after sunset, two intensely bright beams of light appeared near Mt. Whitney, illuminating portions of the Eastern Sierra desert floor. The spectacle was sufficiently unusual to send some locals looking for answers.
Turns out it was the ground-based test in question.
Lone Pine resident Cayden Thompson described the lights to the Chronicle:
“They were blinding.”
Thompson added that it was obvious the lights weren’t ordinary vehicle headlights.
Curious about the source, Thompson and a friend drove up Horseshoe Meadows Road, where they discovered two powerful spotlights positioned in a dirt turnout. A technician warned them to stay back because the equipment was hot enough to cause burns.
So, what was going on? The lights belonged to Reflect Orbital, a Los Angeles-based startup that describes itself as “the Sunlight Company.”
OK, this is where things go a bit off the rails. It's unclear what this ground-level test was intended to achieve; the company's longer-term proposals include mirrors, not searchlights. But there are still problems. But the company is selling this as a way to make solar power a bit less intermittent. Yes, really.
Reflect Orbital is exploring a new way to extend the utility of sunlight: reflecting sunlight from orbit to precise, targeted areas on Earth. Our goal is to deliver light and energy to help make existing solar infrastructure more useful beyond the hours when direct sunlight is available, reduce fossil-fuel dependence, increase energy resilience, and support critical operations.
The company has been approved to launch their first satellite in early 2027. And, as you might expect, I have some questions.
First, how many of these satellites will it take to make solar power anything other than an expensive boondoggle? Hundreds? Thousands? And here's the thing about satellites in orbit around the earth; they are in orbit. Around the Earth. That means that they are moving, and will only be able to reflect light onto the ground into a fixed location, like a field of solar panels, for a few moments. Also, the climate scolds are already sounding the Chicken Little alarms over increasing nighttime temperatures; won't this make that worse?
Second, what about human nighttime activities? One of the oft-heard notions about a boondoggle like this is that reflected sunlight could aid things like search and rescue teams. Wouldn't it be much more economical and much less risky to simply equip the teams with flashlights and night-vision equipment? Also, astronomers are already sounding the alarm over this idea, which will greatly impair their observations.
The proposal has outraged astronomers, who feel their profession is already being threatened by massive satellite constellations from companies like SpaceX that interfere with deep space observations. While the FCC reviewed Reflect Orbital’s application, it received nearly 2,000 public comments criticizing the proposal, Wired reported, including from leading astronomical organizations.
Third, what effect will this have on wildlife? Earth's wildlife is adapted to the day-night cycle. Even a local disruption of that cycle couldn't help but be harmful. Nocturnal creatures would have their feeding cycles interrupted. Diurnal creatures would awaken and start to go about their normal activities, only to be plunged back into darkness again. Everything from feeding to mating to migration could be screwed up. I thought that the climate scolds also cared about wildlife; does that not apply here?
The costs of this would be, literally, astronomical. Building the satellites, getting them into orbit, making sure their orbital paths are exact... That would cost, almost certainly, millions of dollars, and it's hard to see any return on that investment.
No, this notion by Reflect Orbital is, once again, a climate change solution looking desperately for a problem. The FCC should never have approved this boondoggle.
