In a new episode of "We are going to send things to space even if we are not sure about it", a Russian company called StartRocket wants to revive the possibility of transmitting advertising from outer space, but not by placing products on official missions (something that has already happened), but as entire constellations of bright advertisements that would be visible from the Earth's surface. Can you imagine seeing a giant Coca-Cola logo in the middle of the night...?
We recently talked about the Chinese concept of an artificial moon to illuminate cities and save energy. The general parameters suggest that those in charge of the initial project do not seem to be aware of the difficulties (technical, financial, political, and social) they will have to face. The vision of moving more infrastructure into space is not only tempting, but will become necessary if we want to develop solid goals for exploration and colonization. However, that brings with it a huge responsibility, although not everyone fully recognizes it. A recent proof of this comes from Russia, where a company named StartRocket wants to go to space... to place advertising. Yes.
Russian entrepreneur and CEO of StartRocket Vladilen Sitnikov says that "new eras demand new gods", and that the world is no longer governed by powerful Greek deities, but by brands and exclusive events. His inspiration came through Humanity Star, the passive spherical satellite that Rocket Lab launched in early 2018, and which part of humanity could observe for more than two months. Sitnikov and his team plan to place about 200 CubeSats with reflective material at an altitude of 500 kilometers in 2021. Each of those satellites will be a "pixel" of a giant orbital screen that can be turned on or off to change the content (logos, words, etc.). Sitnikov has already shared some numbers: $150 million in production costs, and $200,000 per eight hours of ads... a bargain compared to the Super Bowl ($175,000 per second on average).
https://old.neoteo.com/tecnologia-obsoleta-basura-espacial/Now, why is it a terrible idea? First of all, the last thing I want to see next to the Moon and the Morning Star is an ad suggesting that I should drink Budweiser or that Twitter is good for my life. Secondly, space junk! If advertising multiplies and each ad uses 200 satellites as a base, once they stop working they will become missiles (unless they can be programmed with a final reentry into the atmosphere), bringing us a little closer to the Kessler Syndrome. Finally, ownership. What happens if someone claims an orbit as their own to place ads? How compatible would that be with the Outer Space Treaty? Many questions, but the most likely thing is that this Russian is looking for five minutes of attention to finance something else...
Source: Reuters
