Reflect Orbital is building a constellation of satellites designed to reflect sunlight down to Earth for large-scale lighting and energy applications. The company plans to deploy its first satellite as early as Spring 2026 and begin a limited "World Tour" of lighting experiences in 10 iconic locations. After the initial demonstrations, Reflect intends to expand to provide lighting for remote operations, defense, civil infrastructure, and energy generation. The new $20 million Series A will support team growth, scaled operations, and the company's first space missions. Reflect is actively contracting with customers after receiving over 260,000 applications for satellite-reflected sunlight from 157 countries. Headquartered in Hawthorne, Calif., the company is hiring engineers and mission-driven professionals to execute its roadmap. Reflect Orbital is building satellites that deploy large reflective arrays to precisely beam sunlight onto targeted ground locations, with the stated aim of extending dawn and dusk to increase solar power generation. The company was founded in October 2021 by CEO Ben Nowack and CTO Tristan Semmelhack and operates from a 10,000 square-foot office in Hawthorne with seven employees. Its near-term plan is a sub-scale orbital demonstration carrying a 10 by 10 meter reflector, with production vehicles planned around 50 by 50 meters or larger. Reflect intends to combine beams from hundreds to thousands of satellites and grow its constellation to “thousands to tens of thousands,” a scale the founders say could rival Starlink in size. The production service is targeting roughly 1/5 noon sunlight brightness at a focused spot by coordinating many vehicles, and the company positions the offering as a way to increase baseline solar output rather than directly replace batteries. The startup has drawn viral attention and public scrutiny, collected roughly 182,000 applications to reserve prototype sunshine, and acknowledges technical and policy challenges including atmospheric loss and impacts on astronomy.

Total raised

$27M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

May 2025