WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has formally authorized a highly controversial satellite mission designed to beam sunlight down to nighttime regions on Earth, pushing ahead despite fierce outcry from the global scientific and environmental communities.
In a regulatory order issued July 9, 2026, the FCC granted a license to California based startup Reflect Orbital to launch its Eärendil-1 demonstration satellite.
Scheduled to launch later this year into a low Earth orbit between 600 and 650 kilometers in altitude, the 142-kilogram spacecraft will deploy a massive, 18-meter-wide thin-film reflector designed to redirect solar beams to specific targeted areas on the ground for several minutes at a time.
Credit: Reflect Orbital
Reflect Orbital has pitched the technology as “sunlight on demand,” citing commercial interest for applications such as illuminating nighttime construction zones, assisting emergency search-and-rescue operations, and reflecting sunlight onto terrestrial solar farms to boost clean energy production after dark.
“We’re grateful to the FCC for recognizing the importance of testing novel technologies in space…This license is the first step toward rigorously testing our technology’s efficacy and the safeguards we have developed.”
– Ben Nowack, Chief Executive of Reflect Orbital
A Sky Full of Moons
While the startup paints a picture of industrial efficiency, astronomers and environmentalists view the project with deep alarm. If the initial tests succeed, Reflect Orbital plans to eventually deploy a massive constellation of up to 50,000 mirror satellites; a scale that experts warn could permanently alter the night sky.
Credit: Reflect Orbital
Environmental groups caution that artificial sunlight at this scale could severely disrupt the diurnal (day-night) cycles of plants and wildlife. For astronomers, the threat is even more direct. Giant reflective sheets in space risk blinding highly sensitive telescope instruments and ruining long-exposure deep-space imagery.
At a June 4 meeting of the National Academies, Tony Tyson, chief scientist of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and distinguished research professor at the University of California, Davis, slammed the concept. Tyson characterized Reflect Orbital’s vision as “even crazier” than the broadband megaconstellations that have already complicated orbital observations for years, raising concerns that the flexible thin-film reflectors will scatter light unpredictably.
“Imagine the sky full of moons,”
– Tony Tyson, Chief Scientist of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory
Echoing those concerns, the European Southern Observatory (ESO); which operates some of the world’s most advanced telescopes in the high deserts of Chile; issued a stark assessment on July 1.
According to ESO models, a full constellation of 50,000 mirror satellites would increase the background sky brightness at its facilities by a factor of three to four, effectively blinding telescopes trying to detect faint, distant celestial objects.
“For optical astronomy, this is an existential threat, and we hope that the regulators will share that view.”
— Betty Kioko, ESO Institutional Affairs Officer
Outside the FCC’s Jurisdiction?
The application drew intense public scrutiny, triggering nearly 1,900 public comments to the FCC; the vast majority of them highly critical. By comparison, a separate controversial application by SpaceX to operate up to 1 million massive “orbital data center” satellites gathered roughly 1,500 comments.
Despite the pushback, the FCC ultimately ruled that the ecological and astronomical concerns fell completely outside its legal purview.
“We find that concerns about Eärendil-1’s impacts on optical astronomy fall outside our review and authorization of the space station and are not a basis for denial of or additional conditions on Reflect Orbital’s operations,”
– FCC Order
The commission rejected arguments that the greenlight contradicted public interest. Instead, the agency concluded:
“it is in the public interest to make spectrum available to encourage companies to test new and innovative space activities, as it promotes American innovation and the new services and economic growth that come from that innovation.”
– FCC Order
To soften the blow, the FCC noted that Reflect Orbital has committed to coordinating with NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the broader astronomical community to establish geographic exclusion zones and safeguards.
The regulatory milestone arrived just one day after a coalition of environmental and scientific organizations filed a formal petition demanding the FCC conduct a comprehensive programmatic environmental assessment for orbital data center constellations.
While Eärendil-1 prepares to head to the launchpad later this year, the legal battle over who regulates the visibility of our night sky is only beginning.