this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2025
877 points (98.9% liked)

Technology

76672 readers
1890 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
L3s@lemmy.world
enu@lemmy.world
technopagan@lemmy.world
L4s@lemmy.world
L3s@hackingne.ws
L4s@hackingne.ws
877
Controversial startup's plan to 'sell sunlight' using giant mirrors in space would be 'catastrophic' and 'horrifying,' astronomers warn (www.livescience.com)
submitted 2 days ago by themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/technology@lemmy.world
177 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

https://archive.ph/3WZrp

California-based startup Reflect Orbital aims to build a swarm of 4,000 giant mirrors in low Earth orbit to "sell sunlight" to customers at night. Experts warn that the mirrors could mess with telescopes, blind stargazers and impact the environment.

Reflect Orbital, which was founded in 2021, has recently taken the first step in a scheme to sell sunlight at night by bouncing solar rays off giant "reflectors" that can redirect the vital resource almost anywhere on our planet. By doing this, the company aims to extend daylight hours in specific locations, thus allowing paying customers to generate solar power, grow crops and replace urban lighting.

But experts say it is a wildly impractical plan that should never get off the ground. What's more, the resulting light pollution could devastate ground-based astronomy, distract aircraft pilots and even blind stargazers.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] abbiistabbii@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Isn't this basically the plot of "who shot Mr Burns?"

[–] tooclose104@lemmy.ca 8 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

It's the opposite of that plot. In that episode, Mr Burns blocks out the sun in order to force everyone to use more electricity to increase revenue for his nuclear power plant.

[–] curiousaur@reddthat.com 2 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

If the mirrors are reflecting light into a dark part of earth, they are taking it away from a place that's experiencing daylight.

[–] veni_vedi_veni@lemmy.world 6 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

How? I would think the reflector would have to be near tangential to the area it lit up

[–] curiousaur@reddthat.com 2 points 13 hours ago

Oh shit you're right. I'm more lucid that I was when I wrote that and see how dumb it sounds.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 1 points 17 hours ago

Do they think the sun only shines on earth?

[–] tuff_wizard@aussie.zone 2 points 14 hours ago

Don't worry, they will only block light from poorer countries with a mostly non white population. very safe and nothing to worry about!

[–] Digestive_Biscuit@feddit.uk 2 points 21 hours ago

Wow yes. Had forgotten about this. They gave alternates of who killed him. I don't remember them all but for some reason I rember Apu and Maggie firing with angry faces. I need to watch that again.