![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_318476682-cc95-e1793183049343.jpg\")
\n\t\tOne local said the light would \u2018burn\u2019 if you got too close (Picture: Reflect Orbital)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tOne local said the light would \u2018burn\u2019 if you got too close (Picture: Reflect Orbital)<\/p>\n
Two bright beams lit up the desert sky of Lone Pine, a town near the craggy peak of Mount Whitney, California<\/a>, on Saturday.<\/p>\n It sounds straight out of Twin Peaks, but drivers on Highway 395\u00a0felt compelled to investigate the \u2018incredibly bright\u2019 light.<\/p>\n Cayden Thompson told the\u00a0San Francisco Chronicle<\/a> that the light was \u2018blinding\u2019 and clearly not from car headlights. <\/p>\n \u2018They put out so much energy that you can\u2019t stand in front of them or you\u2019d get burned,\u2019 Thompson said. \u2018It was pretty unbelievable.\u2019<\/p>\n But what the light actually was may have sounded just as science<\/a> fiction as aliens \u2013 a tech start-up that wants to send giant mirrors <\/a>into space.<\/p>\n The \u2018sunlight company\u2019 wants to brighten the night with 50,000 mirrors orbiting Earth,\u00a0bouncing sunlight <\/a>to the dark side of the planet.<\/p>\n \t\t This light \u2018on\u00a0demand\u2019, as its website <\/a>puts it, could power solar farms after sunset, illuminate city streets and provide lighting for rescue workers.<\/p>\n Reflect Orbital told Metro it was testing its cosmic nightlight using a pair of high-wattage spotlights in a\u00a0dirt scraper on Horseshoe Meadows Road.<\/p>\n The mobile lights simulated how search-and-rescue teams\u00a0could use the \u2018sunlight service\u2019 in the 2030s.<\/p>\n China<\/a> Lake Mountain Rescue carried out search drills, stretcher carrying and equipment rigging in the dark by headlamp, then under the Reflect Orbital lights. <\/p>\n Phillip Cash, the volunteer<\/a> nonprofit\u2019s operations leader, said the desert was brighter than it would have been with a full moon<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018There\u2019s no light and then suddenly you can see three miles around you in every direction,\u2019 he said, adding that it was \u2018easier\u2019 to work<\/a> in the light.<\/p>\n \t\t Reflect Orbital, based in Hawthorne, obtained permits in advance and coordinated with the nearby Edwards Air Force Base and police.<\/p>\n \u2018Search-and-rescue teams are expected to be our first customers, so this was a real-world test conducted alongside teams who would use our technology,\u2019 it said.<\/p>\n Reflect Orbital\u00a0announced<\/a> last week it had bought two rocket launches from India\u2019s Skyroot Aerospace.<\/p>\n The aim is to test its E\u00e4rendil-1 satellite, which would launch a 60-foot mirror 400 miles up into the cosmos to reflect sunlight onto a circular, three-mile-wide patch down below.<\/p>\n Someone looking up would see a speck in the sky about as bright as a full moon <\/a>or Venus.<\/p>\n By 2035, it will deploy a constellation of 50,000 satellites, charging about \u00a33,700 an hour<\/a> for the light of one mirror, depending on the contract.<\/p>\n \u2018Light pollution from space\u2019, says astronomer <\/p>\n But the plans have drawn criticism from astronomers<\/a>, who fear it could mess with the stargazing efforts that help us understand the universe<\/a>.<\/p>\n It would amount to \u2018light pollution from space\u2019, says Dr Robert Massey, the deputy executive director of the UK\u2019s Royal Astronomical Society.<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019re deeply concerned that if it goes ahead, then by the 2030s, large areas of the Earth\u2019s surface would see hundreds of very bright satellites at once, and locations near the beams illuminating the ground would face light pollution worse than in many city centres,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m not at all surprised that the test drew such criticism. <\/p>\n \t\t \u2018Would any of us really want beams from space eventually illuminating our homes and workplaces in this way?\u2019<\/p>\n Environmental groups and experts worry the night light could meddle with local wildlife, as critters struggle to tell if it\u2019s day or night.<\/p>\n Reflect Orbital thinks so. The satellites could be a tool to reduce the burning of fossil fuels, the company says, and has worked with astronomers and scientists to design the project.<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019ll keep working closely with local communities and authorities wherever we operate, and are excited to show how this technology can help save lives,\u2019 the company adds.<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_318476681-36df.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe light, emitted from powerful spotlights, was being used for search-and-rescue drills (Picture: Reflect Orbital)<\/p>\n![\"FCC](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_305082359-d40c.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe large spacecraft will reflect sunlight to Earth\u2019s surface for construction sites (Picture: Reflect Orbital)<\/p>\n![\"Reflect](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_288745182-f372.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe mirrors would appear as dots in the night sky (Picture: Reflect Orbital)<\/p>\n
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