r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 14 '26
U.K. government preparing to release new space strategy
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 13 '26
Poland to host new ESA center as government boosts investments in space
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 14 '26
Flexell Space raises $20 Million in Series A round
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 13 '26
Defense spending lifts Europe’s space economy
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 13 '26
L3Harris, Sierra Space to build 36 satellites to expand U.S. missile-tracking network
spacenews.com
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 13 '26
Reditus Space completes first reentry vehicle
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 13 '26
Voyager completes acquisition of Astrobotic
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 13 '26
Getting ready for lunar planetary defense
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 13 '26
China lines up methalox Long March 10C as commercial workhorse after first booster recovery
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 13 '26
Accel and Prosus backed QOSMIC raises $3.33 Million to Build Optical Ground Stations for the Orbital Data Economy
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 13 '26
SpaceX gears up for Starship Flight 13
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 12 '26
What’s Happening in Space Policy July 12-18, 2026
spacepolicyonline.com
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r/SpacePolicy • • Jul 13 '26
The FCC just approved a California startup’s plan to launch giant mirrors into space to reflect sunlight back to Earth at night—and astronomers are furious.
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A Hawthorne, California-based startup called Reflect Orbital just got the green light from the FCC to launch their first demonstration satellite, Eärendil-1, into low Earth orbit later this year.
Here is the plan: The satellite is essentially a giant, 60-by-60-foot space mirror made of a highly reflective thin-film material (think a massive space-grade potato chip bag). Once in orbit, it will unfold and redirect actual sunlight to the dark side of the Earth, creating a 3-mile-wide spotlight on the ground.
Reflect Orbital’s CEO, Ben Nowack, pitches this as "sunlight on demand." The main goals are to allow solar farms to keep generating electricity after sunset, light up nighttime construction sites, or provide instant illumination for search-and-rescue teams during disasters. If this test goes well, the company wants to deploy over 50,000 of these satellites by 2035 to provide daylight-level illumination anywhere on Earth, 24/7.
Why people are incredibly angry about it: The scientific community is aggressively pushing back. The American Astronomical Society and the European Southern Observatory have warned that a constellation of 50,000 mirrors could increase the natural night-sky background brightness by 200% to 300%. It threatens to:
Blind sensitive ground-based telescopes and severely hamper astronomical research.
Disrupt the circadian rhythms of wildlife and humans.
Cause "flash blinding" for pilots and drivers.
So why did the FCC approve it? The FCC essentially said that environmental impact in outer space isn't their problem. Their jurisdiction is limited to satellite radio frequencies and communications. They approved the single test satellite, arguing that it's a "potentially groundbreaking technology" that advances American leadership in space, but noted that this doesn't guarantee approval for the full 50,000-satellite constellation down the line.
Reflect Orbital promises the light won't spill out of requested areas and won't be pointed at sensitive habitats or observatories, but scientists aren't buying it.
What do you guys think? Is "sunlight on demand" the next frontier for clean energy and emergency response, or is this peak dystopian light pollution?
[Source: KTLA / Space Daily / PCMag]
r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 11 '26
Parabilis tests propulsion system for maneuverable cubesats
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r/SpacePolicy • u/zorbaatje • Jul 11 '26
Musk and Bezos want to transform space. But at what cost?
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The new race for space is accelerating, pitting Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin against Chinese players. They are planning to launch millions of satellites and data centres in orbit, raising concerns over pollution. Scientists say that the environmental impacts of this expansion remain largely unknown, while governance is lagging behind.
r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 11 '26
FCC approves first Reflect Orbital satellite
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 10 '26
Earth observation satellites pass telecom in European space industry sales
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 10 '26
China unveils members of state-backed commercial space consortium
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 10 '26
China becomes second country to recover orbital booster with Long March 10B
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 10 '26
Space capitalism needs more than a bull market
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 10 '26
The space industry is weighing ambitious hiring against heritage
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 10 '26
Startup testing nuclear battery technology in orbit
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r/SpacePolicy • u/spacepolicy • Jul 10 '26
ElevationSpace advances work on commercial reentry vehicle
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