Sunlight after sunset? Space-mirror that offers sunlight on-demand draws Colorado attention

Colorado’s sunsets could someday face some high-tech competition. A California startup called Reflect Orbital wants to use giant mirrors aboard satellites to redirect sunlight to locations on Earth after dark, an idea that has caught the attention of Colorado dark-sky advocates.

The company is based in Hawthorne, California, not Colorado. But Denver makes a cameo in its research: A 2025 paper coauthored by the company’s founders uses the city’s lights as a benchmark for comparing how much light an orbiting reflector could deliver. That reference does not establish Denver as a customer or planned test site.

Reflect Orbital says its proposed “sunlight on demand” could extend operating hours for solar farms, illuminate construction projects or help search-and-rescue crews. The Federal Communications Commission approved a single demonstration satellite in July to test the concept, not the company’s envisioned fleet of thousands of orbiting mirrors.

For Coloradans who prefer their nighttime skies without an extra helping of sunshine, the proposal raises a different question: What happens to the darkness? DarkSky Colorado shared news of the approval in July, while DarkSky International has opposed the project, warning that redirected sunlight could interfere with astronomy, wildlife and natural nighttime conditions.

For now, this is an experimental space project, not a service Denver residents can summon to squeeze in one more backyard barbecue. The FCC describes the first mission as a limited technology test intended to determine whether the idea works and identify challenges before any larger deployment. Colorado’s connection is, so far, more about watching the skies than ordering sunshine.