Dispatch
Reflect Orbital's space mirrors could make the sky 40x brighter than a full moon in target zones
A study by Miroslav Kocifaj and colleagues, accepted in Astrophysical Journal Letters and covered August 21, 2026, models the light pollution from Reflect Orbital's planned on-demand sunlight satellites. A single satellite within the 5km target area reads about 40 times brighter than a full moon, and still matches a full moon at 14km out. A 400-satellite constellation focused on a 5km area would hit the equivalent of 10,000 full moons, roughly 2.4% of solar brightness, with a visible horizon glow out to 80km. The US is expected to license the first launch later this year.
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