--- title: "Startup Says It’ll Use Huge Space Mirror to Sell Sunlight During Nighttime" description: "A unique startup claims it will soon let people buy spots of sunlight reflected with a giant satellite mirror." date: "2024-08-30" modified: "2024-08-30" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/startup-space-mirror-sunlight-night" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "satellites" - "Startups" - "sunlight" - "the digest" --- # Startup Says It’ll Use Huge Space Mirror to Sell Sunlight During Nighttime ![A unique startup claims it will soon let people buy spots of sunlight reflected with a giant satellite mirror.]() *\Image: Reflect Orbital\* ## Night Light A provocative startup claims it will soon let people buy spots of sunlight reflected with a giant satellite mirror — but there are still a lot of outstanding questions about how (and whether) the whole thing will actually work. As [*Mashable* reports](), the Reflect Orbital startup has begun taking applications to "reserve a spot of light," promoting the offering with a demonstration video posted to X-formerly-Twitter. In the demo, [former SpaceX intern]() and startup cofounder Ben Nowack is shown using an app outside in the dark that seems to control the location of the company's sunlight-reflecting mirrors. As he selects the spot where he stands, the area around him is suddenly illuminated as if by stadium lights. https://www.twitter.com/bennbuilds/status/1826682383514697993 Both *Mashable* and a reader note on [another tweet featuring Nowack's video]() note that it's unclear how the video was filmed, and whether it's a simulation of Reflect Orbital's light-peddling service or what. And unfortunately, there's even more opacity surrounding the startup. ## Bottom Lines Notably, Reflect Orbital hasn't yet launched the mirror-equipped satellite that's key to its value proposition, though the California-based company [says on its reservation page]() that "delivery" of these sunspots will occur in the latter part of 2025. Despite those claims, it's also unclear both how much the launch is going to cost and, perhaps more importantly, how much it's going to cost consumers to purchase this so-called "[sunlight-as-a-service]()." As [*Vice* notes in its reporting]() on Reflect, there is no price listed on the company's website, and when its reporters interviewed Nowack earlier this year, they either didn't ask him about costs or he declined to answer. We've reached out to the startup to ask about the financial elephant in the room and haven't yet heard back, but if we had to guess, we suspect it's not exactly going to be cheap given that even the cheapest and smallest satellite launches are [estimated to cost]() about a million dollars. There's also a non-zero chance that this whole endeavor may be a wash considering that aside from [one brief moment of Russian success](), other attempts to mirror sunlight from space [have failed](). Then again, if anyone could make it happen today, it probably would be a former SpaceX employee — as long as other people are paying for it. **More on satellites:** [*SpaceX's Starlink May Be Keeping the Ozone From Healing, Research Find*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()