Russian company StartRocket says it will use a formation of tiny cube satellites to create programmable displays in the night sky in a low-Earth orbit of 400 to 500 kilometres.
The project titled Orbital Display would use a grid of tissue box-sized satellites called CubeSats to create logos measuring 50 square kilometres across that would be visible to a potential audience of seven billion people, according to a report in astronomy.com.
“Orbiting approximately 280 miles above ground, these tiny satellites will unfurl Mylar sails some 30 feet in diameter to catch and reflect sunlight, creating a pixelated matrix.
“Vladilen Sitnikov, StartRocket’s CEO, describes himself as an advertising guy with a ‘crazy idea.’ He approached SkolTech, a private university in Moscow, to figure out the technical details, contracting a team of engineers to develop a prototype. Their first test launch could happen this [northern] summer, with a full execution in 2021. That is, if the company can find the money.”
StartRocket's website says: "Space has to be beautiful. With the best brands our sky will amaze us every night.”
The idea has attracted criticism from astronomers including John Barentine, director of conservation for the International Dark-Sky Association in Tucson, Arizona, and a member of the American Astronomical Society’s Committee on Light Pollution, Radio Interference and Space Debris.
Barentine told Astronomy the space billboards could qualify as both light pollution and space debris and would be threaten astronomical research from the ground.
