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Chronobiology Leaders Warn FCC That Space Mirrors Could Disrupt Global Sleep
The proposals could make the night sky 3 to 4 times brighter, researchers said, and more than 2,500 scientists urged a full environmental review.
On Monday, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission faced pressure from scientific societies to review two satellite proposals: Reflect Orbital's 50,000 space mirrors and SpaceX's plan for up to 1 million AI data center satellites.
Reflect Orbital seeks to beam 'sunlight on demand' for solar energy production, while SpaceX aims to launch massive constellations for AI computing power—a scale experts say is unprecedented in orbital history.
Presidents of four international scientific societies warned the proposed deployment would disrupt human circadian rhythms and wildlife migration. Astronomers fear increased sky brightness will "permanently scar" the natural night sky.
The FCC fast-tracked evaluation without requiring full environmental impact assessments, as current international space regulations remain inadequate to address cumulative risks from these large-scale commercial deployments.
Estimates from the European Southern Observatory suggest these constellations could cause the Very Large Telescope to lose up to 30% of its data, prompting calls for strict reflectivity limits.