Reflect Orbital Test Satellite: FCC Go-ahead

The FCC has approved Reflect Orbital's test satellite Eärendil-1, a 60×60 ft steerable reflector designed to redirect sunlight from orbit to precise Earth locations for energy, disaster response, and industrial applications. The company plans to launch this year via SpaceX rideshare and aims to operate over 50,000 such satellites by 2035. A regulator just approved orbital solar as real infrastructure, not sci-fi. If you make optics, thermal management, or power electronics for space, Reflect now has 50,000 satellites on a roadmap—and they'll need to buy components at scale from someone this year.