Scientists Oppose The Idea Of Orbiting Space Billboards

Aadhya Khatri - Jan 23, 2019

The company put forward a proposal to apply the same technology that shows the Coca-Cola emblem into the sky as well as messages from the government.

Earlier this month, there was a report about StartRocket, a startup from Russia, which came up with the idea of giant space billboards that can orbit the Earth and be visible at night. They want to launch the billboards by using mini-satellites called CubeSat.

280 miles above the Earth’s surface, these space billboards will create a pixelated matrix by reflecting sunlight. The company put forward a proposal to apply the same technology that shows the Coca-Cola emblem into the sky as well as messages from the government. They have found a team of engineers to execute the idea and will conduct a test this summer.

The space billboards will look like this.

Ever since the article is made public, it has been the subject of controversy on the Internet. Responses tend to lean toward the negative side. One reader wrote that the sky should be protected as a public space, not treated as a potential money making area. Others said that they felt that it was necessary to allow shooting these space billboards if they were ever made real.

As the Internet is filled with anger, the media noticed and produced their own stories. Some of the big names that jump on the bandwagon include Astronomy, Wired, NBC, Digital Trends, and Popular Mechanics.

A close-up image of the Coca-Cola logo.

This idea is so big of a deal that it even attracts scientists’ attention and they share the same attitude toward this with the general public.

Patrick Seitzer, an astronomer at the University of Michigan said that he and scientists like him would never agree with that idea and the sky should be free of such objects, as it belonged to everyone.

John Crassidis, an aerospace engineer at the University at Buffalo also object these space billboards as he thought they had no practical purposes other than advertising.

Joanne Gabrynowicz shredded light on the consequences of this act. She said that with these billboards orbiting the Earth, they would reflect light and made it harder for scientists to observe the sky.