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FCC approves test of space mirror to light night sky

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Re: FCC approves test of space mirror to light night sky

#31

Post by geetee »

GlassOwAter wrote: post #18
andwur wrote: post #15

How are the economics of this idea meant to be viable? The proposed business model is to park hundreds of millions to billion dollars of satellites in orbit, plus the costs to maintain and operate them, to meet the goal of selective area illumination and solar power. Ignoring the issue of cloud cover, which still seems to be an impediment. That's going to need to directly compete with terrestrial energy storage techn…

Think of the military benefits.

Yes, think about how this can be weaponized. Illuminate an area? Or, focus that energy on a single point and you've got sun powered space lasers?

Re: FCC approves test of space mirror to light night sky

#33

Post by ben_w »

deadbabe wrote: post #16
andwur wrote: post #15

How are the economics of this idea meant to be viable? The proposed business model is to park hundreds of millions to billion dollars of satellites in orbit, plus the costs to maintain and operate them, to meet the goal of selective area illumination and solar power. Ignoring the issue of cloud cover, which still seems to be an impediment. That's going to need to directly compete with terrestrial energy storage techn…

The revenue potential is huge. Think of public events where people might want to illuminate the area as daylight for several hours. Galas, sports, concerts, parties, etc.. They will all pay top dollar and they have the funds. Could get sponsors, "Today's sunlight brought to you by NordVPN"

Here's a ninety thousand lumen floodlight: https://www.kaufland.de/product/500729350/?search_value=stad...

And a satellite isn't going to provide "hours" of extra light unless it's a very much higher orbit than current proposals. At 600 km altitude, you're talking 20-30 minutes even with an unbounded number of satellites (and 10-15 minutes when you've only got a few satellites). Same reason as sunset itself happens: Earth just gets in the way.

Re: FCC approves test of space mirror to light night sky

#34

Post by Robotbeat »

datakan wrote: post #20
blondie9x wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this company intentionally ignored discussing how battery storage has made solar energy a much more effective and viable solution.

And also cheaper than launching stuff into space. This may have been approved but that's a long ways off from actual viability.

Launching a gossamer thin mirror in space is not very expensive. Broad strokes claiming anything launched to space is going to be a more expensive solution has to level with the fact that GPS and quite a lot of telecommunications and Earth observation seem to have incredible leverage if launched to space instead of just using ground based solutions.

Re: FCC approves test of space mirror to light night sky

#35

Post by oersted »

bix6 wrote: post #17

> Eärendil-1 Can everyone just stop with all the LOTR references already why the fuck is this such a thing.

I initially quite liked it, particularly when the references are a bit more obscure, generally from classic scifi/fantasy. You can end with a nice sounding name and a small wink to fellow nerds.

But it is such a shame that it has started to become the brand of dark-side (militaristic/authoritarian) Silicon Valley: Palantir, Anduril, this… Tolkien would be so very sad.

PS: Palantir is at least rather fitting and honest, it’s literally an evil crystal ball (at least the one shown in the movies).

Re: FCC approves test of space mirror to light night sky

#36

Post by wildzzz »

GlassOwAter wrote: post #18
andwur wrote: post #15

How are the economics of this idea meant to be viable? The proposed business model is to park hundreds of millions to billion dollars of satellites in orbit, plus the costs to maintain and operate them, to meet the goal of selective area illumination and solar power. Ignoring the issue of cloud cover, which still seems to be an impediment. That's going to need to directly compete with terrestrial energy storage techn…

Think of the military benefits.

Daylight helps you just as much as your enemy. We've got plenty of cutting edge night vision and thermal imaging devices for humans and radar on vehicles. The Army's 160th helicopter regiment can fly nap of the earth on a moonless night. Satellite-based Synthetic Aperture Radar can pickup human sized objects during a pass and can switch to sub-centimeter resolution in finer modes. If anything, the military prefers fighting at night because of the advantage it holds.

Re: FCC approves test of space mirror to light night sky

#37

Post by ben_w »

dofm wrote: post #29

The only non-marginal application for this is military, surely. It sounds too coarse-grade in terms of its area to be anything other than disruptive socially and ecologically. Sporting and cultural events? Not really (extending the hours of sunlight over a city does have marginal value for a major celebratory event I suppose, but there just aren't that many of these). Farming? Don't plants need night too? Does harves…

> The only non-marginal application for this is military, surely.

I think so, but even then it's a heck of a lot of work to make it useful for that.

> Farming? Don't plants need night too? Does harvesting need the sun anymore?

Mostly limited by other things, hence why there's only limited farming in the Sahara, relatively little phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Gyre.

> But being able to illuminate a war zone with spontaneous sunlight you can switch off at will, that is a weapon, not least because if you are the only one with the power, your opponents will have to act knowing they may not have the cover of night.

Even then, nah. Militaries have had night vision for ages. We can make a wall-penetrating radar work as heartbeat/breathing sensor out of kit fairly close to (but not close enough to be a software patch from) a WiFi base station.

Re: FCC approves test of space mirror to light night sky

#38

Post by brookst »

dofm wrote: post #29

The only non-marginal application for this is military, surely. It sounds too coarse-grade in terms of its area to be anything other than disruptive socially and ecologically. Sporting and cultural events? Not really (extending the hours of sunlight over a city does have marginal value for a major celebratory event I suppose, but there just aren't that many of these). Farming? Don't plants need night too? Does harves…

Illuminating a solar farm for 24 hour power generation?

Re: FCC approves test of space mirror to light night sky

#39

Post by wildzzz »

datakan wrote: post #21
assbuttbuttass wrote: post #2

We've entered the "bond villain" era of VC startups

Someone tried to recruit me back in 2000 for a startup that would sell a box you connect to your computer allowing you to smell things over the internet. I'll let you guess what industry he was targeting.

Ah yes, the best part of human intimacy: the smells!
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