Reflect Orbital wins FCC approval for its first sunlight-beaming satellite test
Ben Nowack and Tristan Semmelhack can test Earendil-1, but the ruling exposes a regulatory gap around commercial light from orbit.
By Ryan Merket · Published
Why it matters
The FCC let Reflect Orbital test one satellite while sidestepping the broader question of who regulates commercial sunlight once orbital services affect life on Earth.
Ben Nowack and Tristan Semmelhack have won FCC authorization in July 2026 for Reflect Orbital to construct, launch and operate Earendil-1, a single demonstration satellite designed to test whether a steerable mirror in low Earth orbit can reflect sunlight onto a targeted spot on Earth after dark. The approval was first highlighted by The Conversation and formalized in the FCC’s order and authorization.
The decision is narrow in scope. The FCC did not bless a 50,000-satellite constellation or evaluate the broader merits of commercial nighttime illumination. It granted authorization for radio operations associated with one satellite and noted that many of the risks raised about the reflector itself are outside its remit. As the order puts it, the “risks of harm raised on the record regarding Reflect Orbital’s solar reflector are unrelated to the Commission’s role in authorizing use of radiofrequency spectrum.”
That is the opening Nowack and Semmelhack needed. Reflect Orbital is trying to turn sunlight into an ordered service: a configurable beam, directed to approved users, available through an app or website, with coverage the company describes as “5 km and up.” On its site, Reflect Orbital lists potential uses that include extending solar-generation hours, illuminating disaster zones, supporting industrial work, aiding agriculture, replacing some urban lighting, and serving defense or event needs.
In a 2024 TechCrunch interview, Nowack pitched a sunlight-powered future and argued that space is the better place to solve solar’s timing problem. Reflect Orbital’s team page lists Nowack as founder and CEO and Semmelhack as co-founder and CTO.
What the FCC actually approved
The FCC order authorizes Reflect Orbital to construct, launch and operate one non-geostationary demonstration satellite, Earendil-1, and to use associated telemetry, tracking, command and downlink communications. The commission’s analysis centers on spectrum and standard space-operations disclosures; it does not set policy on the non-radio effects of reflecting sunlight to Earth.
Astronomers pushed back, but the test can proceed
The American Astronomical Society urged the FCC to deny the application, arguing the concept could interfere with professional and amateur astronomy and disrupt dark skies. The commission nevertheless granted the authorization and noted that concerns about the reflector’s light are not within its spectrum-authorization role. Reflect Orbital, for its part, says on its site that it will maintain strict exclusion zones for astronomy and sensitive environments.
The plan is much bigger than one satellite
Reflect Orbital’s public roadmap makes Earendil-1 the start of an industrial scaling plan. The company says it expects 2 satellites in 2026, 36 satellites in one roadmap section for 2027 and 38 in another, more than 1,000 in 2028, more than 5,000 in 2030 and more than 50,000 in 2035.
The brightness and energy targets scale with that roadmap. Reflect Orbital says its 2026 lighting service target is 0.1 lux for 5 minutes, comparable to full moonlight. By 2027, the company targets 2 lux for 2.5 hours, comparable to street lighting. By 2030, it says it could provide up to 5,000 lux for minutes and up to 100 lux for 2 hours. By 2035, it says it could provide up to 36,000 lux for hours and up to 100 lux around the clock.
On the energy side, Reflect Orbital says service remains in testing through 2028, then targets a roughly 1% capacity-factor gain in 2030 using 50 W/m2 for 20 minutes. By 2035, it targets a 20% capacity-factor increase for 300 W/m2 for 3 hours. These are company targets, not independently validated operating results.
Investors include Sequoia Capital and Lux Capital. TechCrunch reported in 2024 that Sequoia had invested in Reflect Orbital.
The regulatory gap is the story
The FCC has already been preparing for this category. In March, the agency adopted a proceeding titled Spectrum Abundance for Weird Space Stuff, aimed at spacecraft that need telemetry, tracking and command spectrum for activities that do not fit traditional communications services. The Reflect Orbital order shows why that question is serious: companies are beginning to request licenses for orbital activities whose non-radio consequences can be larger than the spectrum request itself.
The decision gives Reflect Orbital room to prove the mechanics: deployment, pointing, communications, orbital operations, brightness control and customer relevance. It does not answer the harder scaling questions that will determine whether Nowack and Semmelhack are building a new energy layer or a business whose market runs ahead of public consent.
Reflect Orbital’s first satellite will test a mirror. Its harder test starts on the ground, with every observatory, regulator, utility, pilot, farmer, defense customer and local community that may have to decide when purchased sunlight is useful and when darkness is part of the commons.