Sunlight generates 10,000 times the energy that humans use. For many, the problem is that it can only be harnessed during the day. With this in mind, a startup, Reflect Orbital, claims it will soon enable people to buy “sunlight points” reflected with a giant satellite mirror.
The company was created by a former Space X employee, Ben Nowack, and by Tristan Semmelhack (an engineer specializing in drones) and already have begun accepting applications to “reserve a light point”promoting the offer with a demo video posted on X.
New things to play with on the website! pic.twitter.com/NJcOjFSblf
— Ben Nowack (@bennbuilds) August 22, 2024
In the demo, Nowack is shown using an app outside in the dark that appears to control the placement of the company’s sunlight-reflecting mirrors. When he selects where he is standing, the area around him lights up. What It is not clear whether this is a simulation or if the video was filmed in some other way.
It is also not known how many satellites will be put into orbit, the size of the mirrors and other technical details. It is only known that The service will become active at the end of 2025 and which already have more than 30,000 reservations according to a tweet published by Semmelhack.
At 30k applications for a spot of light and climbing every second. Insane! 10x yesterday’s count in just a day.
— Tristan Semmelhack (@4TristanS) August 25, 2024
Despite these claims, It is also unclear how much the launch will cost. (there is talk of a minimum of one million euros) and, perhaps more importantly, how much it will cost consumers to buy this service. According to the website, it would be able to illuminate an area of 5 km for 4 minutes.
The team’s intention is to use the mirrors to illuminate certain areas, such as sports facilities, for example, but also for solar farms. “By accurately reflecting sunlight, which It is infinitely available in space“Toward specific goals on Earth, we can create a world where sunlight powers solar farms for longer than just during the day, and in doing so, commoditize sunlight,” Nowack said in a tweet.
This is not the first time something like this has been attempted: The Russians already tried it in 1993.…with brief and moderate success. But if anyone can improve that result, it is undoubtedly the one who comes from Space X. Even more so if it has the support of Elon Musk, who has historically shown a weakness for this type of projects.