Comment by natosaichek
5 hours ago
They're only shining on people who pay for it. I am opposed to light pollution, but reflect is not a threat to anyone who likes dark skies.
5 hours ago
They're only shining on people who pay for it. I am opposed to light pollution, but reflect is not a threat to anyone who likes dark skies.
That’s easily refuted. Here’s a quote from Wikipedia, references are in the original page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflect_Orbital :
> A peer-reviewed study by the astronomer Olivier Hainaut of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), published in Astronomy & Astrophysics in July 2026 identified Reflect Orbital's planned fleet as the brightest of the roughly 1.7 million satellites proposed by various operators.[18] An observer within a reflected beam would see the satellite shining about four times brighter than the full moon, although outside the beam, the satellite would be roughly as bright as the planet Venus.[18][39] With the full constellation of 50,000 satellites, ESO estimated the night sky would become three to four times brighter overall, and warned that illumination from a single mirror-satellite could ruin an exposure from a camera like that of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.