mo4ch:>Goodbye darkness, my old friend: Russian startup wants to place luminous ads in low-Earth orbit | Mo4ch News
In a move straight out of a dystopian blockbuster, a Russian startup wants to put giant luminous billboards into orbit to bombard a “potential audience of 7 billion people” with advertising from space.StartRocket aims to use a formation of tiny cube satellites to create programmable displays in the night sky in a low-Earth orbit of 400-500 kilometers (248-310 miles). Each satellite would have a single collapsible sail to reflect the light of the sun, forming a single pixel in the giant nocturnal display measuring 50 square kilometers across (19 square miles). The company claims it has overcome the technical issues surrounding flying a formation of micro satellites around Earth and plans to launch its Orbital Display by 2020, displaying ads by 2021. The reason for the 12-month gap is unclear, as is the cost of displaying an ad in orbit.“We are ruled by brands and events,” project leader Vlad Sitnikov told Futurism.“We will live in space, and humankind will start delivering its culture…