Reflect Orbital

The Reflect team has completed its second spacecraft in half the time of the first, while incorporating several novel performance upgrades! These are not off the shelf satellites. We make the entire structure, design our own electronics, integrate everything, and perform validation testing in our facilities. Each vehicle contains over 12,000 individual parts, over 6,000 of which are designed entirely in house, many of them are built entirely in house with tools we also built ourselves, and multiple technologies were invented to achieve reflective performance far beyond anything previously achieved or even proposed. Both of these vehicles contain stowed reflectors that will deploy in orbit and all supporting equipment necessary to operate sustainably in the harsh environment of space. The vehicles passed software and actuator checkouts, environmental testing, vibration testing, and several new validation methods developed specifically for the deployable structures and reflector. The spacecraft are now currently awaiting fueling and launch, once in orbit they will demonstrate our capabilities while exemplifying our commitment to mindful operations. These missions directly inform the responsible design and operation of our future constellation. Reflect Orbital exists to demonstrate that sunlight from space can be an important part of humanity's clean-energy future and provide critical lighting at night to save lives.

We're grateful to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) for granting our application to fly our test mission! This ruling is hugely validating for our company and reflects America's leadership in testing innovative space technology. We're excited to validate the guardrails we have built into our technology to mindfully operate our test satellite. Being good stewards of space is critical to the success of this incredible technology. Reflect Orbital is earning the right to operate and we do not take our responsibility lightly. Reflect Orbital exists to demonstrate that sunlight from space can be an important part of humanity's clean-energy future and provide critical lighting at night to save lives. Thank you to the FCC for recognizing our responsible approach to development and deployment, and we’re so excited to have the opportunity to start demonstrating the significant benefits of our technology to the world. Read more about what we're building and why it matters here: https://lnkd.in/gMMxDE2k

Light is a key input for plant growth. It is an energy source for photosynthesis, and a signal for plants to start or delay flowering. Certain colors of light can even be used to boost food quality! Controlled growth environments (i.e., greenhouses) already use light to optimize crop yield and quality at smaller scales. But doing this over the entire field is an expensive infrastructure nightmare. That is, unless you can illuminate the entire field from orbit. But every crop responds to light differently. That is why we are excited to partner with University of California, Davis on a study to better understand where light can be a gamechanger for crop yields over large field areas. The work will be led by Laura Cammarisano, PhD through the Cammarisano lab of CEA, with thanks to Melissa Haworth and the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences for their partnership in bringing this work to life, and hosting Tristan Semmelhack and Sam Harrison for a wonderful visit.

If you're looking for the next podcast for your commute home, take a listen to Ben Nowack and Chris Powers talk about why we love the ☀️ and how we're building the future of sunlight. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gu3ZZHAn

Some people want easy problems. At Reflect Orbital, we'd rather work on the ones that matter. If you want to take on the challenge of building a brighter future across clean energy, food supply, disaster response, and more, then we have a job for you. Link in the comments to apply. Reach out to learn more!

We’ve completed build on our 1st satellite and have a 2nd and 3rd on the way! Every component has been talked to. Once in space it will deploy a reflector as wide as a basketball court. The goal of the Eärendil program is to deliver full moon brightness to 6,000 acres.

Rakhee Khambhati, our Director of Government Partnerships, will be at SOF Week May 18-21 in Tampa. SOF Week is the largest annual gathering of Special Operations Forces in the world. Co-hosted by USSOCOM and the Global SOF Foundation. Last year drew 19,000+ operators, allied commanders, government leads, and industry partners. Four days of keynotes, allied SOF panels, exhibitions, and the USSOCOM Annual Awards Ceremony.

Reflect Orbital's CEO & co-founder Ben Nowack recently sat down with Forbes to share more about what we're building: sunlight on-demand, delivered from orbit, to power clean and abundant solar energy, and to illuminate disaster response, agriculture, construction, and more. Sunlight, wherever it is needed. That's Reflect Orbital. Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/g5Fp75PY

The Reflect Orbital team had a blast at Space Symposium last week. Thanks to Space Foundation for bringing the industry together!