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Saturday, July 18, 2026

The FCC authorized Reflect Orbital to launch the mirror satellite Eärendil-1. "For optical astronomy, this poses an existential threat," the European Southern Observatory said.

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The FCC authorized Reflect Orbital to launch the mirror satellite Eärendil-1. "For optical astronomy, this poses an existential threat," the European Southern Observatory said. www.wired.com/story/reflec ...

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-- WIRED (@wired.com) 4:33 AM · Jul 14, 2026

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WCPGW?

#1 | Posted by sentinel at 2026-07-18 12:21 PM | Reply

I'm sure that if the MAGAt administration approved it then it can also be used as a weapon.

At least it'll be easy to target if that is the case. Just use a ground-based mirror to reflect the sunlight back.

#2 | Posted by Nerfherder at 2026-07-18 12:21 PM | Reply

Yay!

More space junk. I'm sure it will be fine.

www.nationalgeographic.com

#3 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-07-18 12:32 PM | Reply

Paging Icarus ...

#4 | Posted by Dbt2 at 2026-07-18 01:05 PM | Reply

""We're grateful to the FCC for granting our application to fly our test mission," the company said on social media. "This ruling is hugely validating for our company and reflects America's leadership in testing innovative space technology."

The agency also declined to address concerns related to astronomy. "We find that concerns regarding Erendil-1's impact on optical astronomy fall outside the scope of our review and authorization of this space station and therefore do not provide a basis for denying Reflect Orbital's application or imposing additional operating conditions," the FCC said.

And here I was imagining that Trump was against renewables. What a fool I have been. This has Trump written all over it. Good job, Reflect Orbital.

Fire away.

#5 | Posted by redlightrobot at 2026-07-18 01:43 PM | Reply

FCC approval.

That just means they're not going to be doing anything with radios that's going to interfere with other stuff. It's not launch approval.

#6 | Posted by DarkVader at 2026-07-18 02:39 PM | Reply

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