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A California-based space technology company’s plan to test a satellite carrying a giant reflective mirror has prompted warnings from experts who fear the technology could worsen light pollution, disrupt ecosystems, and interfere with scientific research. Reflect Orbital recently received approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and test its Eärendil-1 demonstration satellite, which will carry a giant space mirror designed to redirect sunlight back to Earth from low Earth orbit. (snip) The demonstration mission aims to test whether sunlight can be reflected onto specific locations on Earth. The reflected light would illuminate an area around three miles...

A Southern California company just received approval to test a space mirror that would reflect sunlight to dark parts of planet Earth. The Federal Communications Commission issued a license on Thursday to Reflect Orbital, an energy company based in Hawthorne. The license officially allows Reflect Orbital to launch its Earendil-1 satellite using frequencies in UHF, S-band and X-band for “telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) and data downlink to support deployment and testing of a solar reflector.” Reflect Orbital will only be allowed to deploy one satellite at a time for now, the license states. “Earendil-1 will use a deployable, highly...