A California-based start-up company known as Reflect Orbital is looking to harness the power of the sun, regardless of the time of day on Earth. The CEO of Reflect Orbital Ben Nowack posted a video on Thursday, Aug. 22, showing the company’s vision of what it hopes to be able to accomplish with a vast array of mirrored satellites in orbit.
Reflect Orbital’s plan is to send up a number of these mirrors piggybacking on other planned rocket launches. Once in orbit, these satellites would pinpoint the sun’s rays onto a precise location on Earth. Nowack said he wants to make as easy logging into a website and using GPS coordinates to pinpoint where exactly a user would want the sunlight to shine.
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“The beauty of space is you can put things up there and they stay up for a long time,” said Tristan Semmelhack, the CTO of Reflect. “You this thing up really high and suddenly you have global access to basically any location on Earth if you design it correctly, that’s what’s magical.”
Nowack believes that the technology may one day be used to power solar farms at night. Reflect Orbital plans to launch what it calls its first “deployable reflector” in the coming months.
Reflect Orbital currently has its website focused on both lighting and energy. Lighting portion of the company focuses on bringing a “spot of sunlight” to a particular location on Earth after dark while the energy portion focuses on bringing the sun’s energy to a solar plant at night.
[JACK AYLMER]
A START-UP IS LOOKING TO HARNESS THE POWER OF THE SUN, REGARDLESS OF THE TIME OF DAY.
THE CEO OF REFLECT ORBITAL, BEN NOWACK, POSTED THIS VIDEO LAST WEEK.
IT’S A VISION OF WHAT THEY HOPE TO BE ABLE TO DO WITH A VAST ARRAY OF MIRRORED SATELLITES.
THE CALIFORNIA COMPANY PLAN IS TO SEND UP A NUMBER OF THESE MIRRORS – PIGGYBACKING ON OTHER PLANNED ROCKET LAUNCHES.
ONCE IN ORBIT THESE SATELLITES WOULD PINPOINT THE SUN’S RAYS ONTO A PRECISE LOCATION ON EARTH.
NOWACK SAYS HE WANTS TO MAKE IT AS EASY AS LOGGING INTO A WEBSITE AND TELLING YOUR G-P-S COORDINATES WHERE YOU WANT THE SUNLIGHT TO SHINE.
[TRISTAN SEMMELHACK]
“THE BEAUTY OF SPACE IS YOU CAN PUT THINGS UP THERE… AND THEY STAY UP THERE FOR A LONG TIME… IT’S NOT A LIKE A HELICOPTER WHERE YOU HAVE TO KEEP REFUELING IT. YOU PUT THIS THING UP REALLY HIGH AND SUDDENLY YOU HAVE GLOBAL ACCESS TO BASICALLY ANY LOCATION ON EARTH IF YOU DESIGN IT CORRECTLY. THAT’S COMPLETELY MAGICAL.”
[JACK AYLMER]
HE BELIEVES IT COULD ONE DAY BE USED TO POWER SOLAR FARMS AT NIGHT.
REFLECT ORBITAL IS PLANNING TO LAUNCH WHAT IT CALLS ITS FIRST ‘DEPLOYABLE REFLECTOR’ IN THE COMING MONTHS.
WE’LL BE WATCHING. STAY UPDATED ON ALL THE OUT OF THIS WORLD ENERGY PLANS BY DOWNLOADING THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP.
FOR STRAIGHT ARROWS– I’M JACK AYLMER.
