Reflect Orbital
Reflect Orbital is a Hawthorne, California-based space technology company building a constellation of mirror-equipped satellites that deliver redirected sunlight on demand to enterprise, government, and defense customers across lighting, energy, and emergency response applications.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2024
- HeadquartersHawthorne, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Reflect Orbital does
Reflect Orbital is a Hawthorne, California-based space technology company building a constellation of satellites that redirect sunlight to precise locations on Earth using large deployable mirrors. The company's core technology is a tensioned thin-film deployable reflector in sun-synchronous polar orbit, with motorized steering that allows the reflected beam to be aimed, dimmed from moonlight to noon-level brightness, and turned off on demand. The flagship prototype, Earendil-1, features a 60-foot (18-meter) wide reflector designed to illuminate a roughly three-mile-wide patch on Earth during demonstration passes scheduled for spring 2026.
The company commercializes this hardware through two integrated service products. The Light Service offers on-demand illumination for industrial operations, emergency and disaster response, agriculture, defense, urban/civil infrastructure, and experiential applications; the Energy Service redirects sunlight onto existing solar farms to extend electricity generation past sunset, with the 2035 roadmap targeting a +20% capacity factor uplift at 300 w/m2 for 3 hours. Pricing is publicly disclosed at approximately $5,000 per hour per mirror under multi-year contracts of 1,000 or more hours annually, implying a minimum annual contract value of roughly $5 million per customer. Go-to-market is direct enterprise and government sales, with service activation gated by approval from local authorities and a GPS-coordinate-based observatory avoidance layer.
Reflect Orbital was founded by former SpaceX engineers Ben Nowack (CEO) and Tristan Semmelhack (CTO), with Ally Stone as Chief Strategy Officer, and now employs 14 or more staff across engineering, manufacturing, policy, and operations. The company has raised approximately $26.5 million to date: a $6.5 million seed in September 2024 led by Sequoia Capital (its first space investment since SpaceX), a $20 million Series A in May 2025 led by Lux Capital with Sequoia and Starship Ventures participating, plus a $1.25 million SBIR Phase II contract from the U.S. Air Force's AFWERX. The company is pre-revenue, with a planned constellation scale from 2 satellites in 2026 to 50,000+ by 2035, an FCC application for the full constellation pending review, and more than 260,000 service requests logged from 157 countries.
Reflect Orbital firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Reflect Orbital
- Legal name
- Reflect Orbital
- Website
- https://reflectorbital.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2024
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Reflect Orbital is a Hawthorne, California-based space technology company building a constellation of mirror-equipped satellites that deliver redirected sunlight on demand to enterprise, government, and defense customers across lighting, energy, and emergency response applications.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Reflect Orbital industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Space-based Solar Infrastructure Services
- NAICS
- Satellite Telecommunications (51741)
- SIC
- Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Space Payloads & Instruments (Sensors, Comms, EO/IR) (IMABACAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Solar Plant Components Supply & Manufacturing (Modules, Cells, Wafers, Mirrors, Heliostats) (EUACAGAK)
Keywords
Where Reflect Orbital is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Hawthorne
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Reflect Orbital business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Sunlight-as-a-Service: Selling redirected sunlight to customers at approximately $5,000 per hour per mirror under annual contracts of 1,000 hours or more. Customers include solar farms (to extend power generation after sunset), disaster response teams, construction companies, agriculture operations, defense, and urban lighting applications.
- Lighting Service Contracts: Provides on-demand illumination for various applications including remote operations, defense, civil infrastructure. Service is ordered via app or website in approved locations.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Multi-year contract | Standard hourly rate for satellite-reflected sunlight service |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Reflect Orbital product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Reflect Orbital sells satellite-reflected sunlight to enterprise and government customers as an on-demand service. Its constellation of orbital mirror satellites redirects concentrated, configurable sunlight to precise ground locations for applications including extending solar farm generation after sunset, illuminating disaster zones and remote industrial sites, and supporting defense operations. The service is priced at approximately $5,000 per hour per mirror under multi-year contracts of 1,000+ hours annually, ordered through an app or website in approved locations.
Product overview
Reflect Orbital offers a unified satellite infrastructure platform delivering two integrated services: the Light Service and the Energy Service. The Light Service provides precise, on-demand illumination from orbit for applications including disaster response, industrial operations, agriculture, civil infrastructure, defense, and experiences. The Energy Service redirects sunlight onto existing solar farms to extend power generation past sunset. The core technology consists of large deployable mirror satellites that can be precisely aimed, dimmed, and turned off instantly. The company plans to scale from 2 demonstration satellites in 2026 to a full constellation of 50,000+ satellites by 2035. The flagship prototype, Earendil-1, features an 60-foot-wide mirror and serves as the first test of the technology.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Light Service On-demand, satellite-reflected sunlight illumination service delivering precise, configurable light from orbit to designated locations on Earth. Brightness is adjustable from full moon to full noon levels, can be turned on or off instantly, and requires no ground infrastructure. Used by industrial operators, disaster response teams, agricultural operations, defense customers, municipalities, and event/experience organizers. Ordered via the Reflect Orbital app or website within approved locations.
- Energy Service Satellite-based reflected sunlight delivery to existing utility-scale solar farms, enabling photovoltaic panels to generate electricity after sunset. Extends solar generation hours and increases capacity factor without additional ground infrastructure or new land. Scaled target outcomes include +1% capacity factor by 2028 and +20% by 2035.
- Earendil-1 Prototype Satellite Earendil-1 is Reflect Orbital's first prototype satellite featuring a 60-foot (18-meter) wide tensioned thin-film deployable mirror designed to redirect sunlight onto Earth as a technology demonstration. It underpins both the Light Service and the eventual Energy Service by proving the core orbital reflector architecture.
- Sunlight-as-a-Service (Commercial Service Model) Sunlight-as-a-Service is Reflect Orbital's overarching commercial offering: customers contract for satellite-reflected sunlight delivered to approved locations, priced at approximately $5,000 per hour per mirror under multi-year contracts of 1,000+ hours annually. The same commercial model underpins both the Light Service and the Energy Service.
Quantifiable outcome
- +1% capacity factor for solar farms by 2028, scaling to +20% capacity factor by 2035
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Reflect Orbital
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Reflect Orbital technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Reflect Orbital partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Astronomical Community / Dark Skies OrganizationscoreReflect Orbital is engaging with the astronomy community to develop responsible deployment practices including exclusion zones for observatories, GPS coordinate integration to avoid sensitive sites, and transparency in satellite positioning. Early discussions shaped the company's three principles: predictability, transparency, and avoidability.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Reflect Orbital competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- SpaceX (Starlink): SpaceX operates Starlink, the world's largest commercial satellite constellation delivering broadband internet service from low Earth orbit. Reflect Orbital pursues a structurally analogous business model — operating a large LEO constellation to deliver a paid service from space — but for redirected sunlight instead of internet connectivity.
- Planet Labs: Planet Labs operates one of the largest commercial Earth-observation satellite constellations, selling imagery and data services derived from space-based assets. Comparable to Reflect Orbital in operating a scaled LEO constellation for a recurring service revenue model, though Planet's value is data capture rather than physical energy redirection.
- AST SpaceMobile: AST SpaceMobile is building a space-based cellular broadband network using large deployable satellite arrays to deliver direct-to-device connectivity. The deployable-array architecture, LEO service model, and reliance on third-party launch provide a useful operating and capital-intensity comparison.
Emerging players
- Aetherflux: Aetherflux is developing space-based solar power systems that collect solar energy in orbit and wirelessly transmit it to Earth. While the mechanism (collection and wireless power beaming) differs from Reflect's reflection approach, both companies target the same fundamental market: delivering solar-derived energy at night from space.
- Heliogen: Heliogen uses computer-vision-controlled mirrors (heliostats) to concentrate sunlight for industrial-heat and clean-fuel applications. While ground-based rather than space-based, the core concept of precisely steering concentrated sunlight to a target is technologically analogous to Reflect Orbital's reflector architecture.
- Voyager Space (Above: Space): Voyager Space is a space infrastructure company developing in-space services and platform capabilities. While not a direct competitor, Voyager shares the thematic positioning as a privately funded space infrastructure business pursuing novel commercial use cases in LEO.
Broad incumbents
- Iridium Communications: Iridium operates a global L-band satellite constellation delivering voice and data services to commercial and government customers. Comparable as a satellite service operator with multi-year enterprise and government contracts and a global constellation footprint.
- Rocket Lab: Rocket Lab is a vertically integrated space company offering launch services and space systems manufacturing for small satellites. Reflect Orbital depends on launch providers like Rocket Lab (and SpaceX) to deploy its constellation, and shares the challenge of scaling complex space hardware manufacturing.
- Northrop Grumman: Northrop Grumman is a major space systems prime contractor producing spacecraft, payloads, and large deployable structures (including for NASA and DoD). Reflect Orbital's deployable thin-film reflector architecture is comparable to Northrop's heritage in space-based deployable systems.
- Lockheed Martin: Lockheed Martin is a leading space systems integrator producing satellites, optical payloads, and large deployable structures for government and commercial customers. Reflect Orbital's optical/payload engineering challenges (large-area reflective optics, precise beam steering) overlap with Lockheed's space systems work.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Reflect Orbital social profiles
Digital presenceReflect Orbital compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Reflect Orbital financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Reflect Orbital leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Reflect Orbital funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors6 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Reflect Orbital M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Reflect Orbital
What does Reflect Orbital do?
Reflect Orbital sells satellite-reflected sunlight to enterprise and government customers as an on-demand service. Its constellation of orbital mirror satellites redirects concentrated, configurable sunlight to precise ground locations for applications including extending solar farm generation after sunset, illuminating disaster zones and remote industrial sites, and supporting defense operations. The service is priced at approximately $5,000 per hour per mirror under multi-year contracts of 1,000+ hours annually, ordered through an app or website in approved locations.
Is Reflect Orbital a public or private company?
Reflect Orbital is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Reflect Orbital founded?
Reflect Orbital was founded in 2024. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Reflect Orbital based?
Reflect Orbital is headquartered in Hawthorne, United States, in the North America region.
How does Reflect Orbital make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Sunlight-as-a-Service is the primary driver. The others are lighting Service Contracts.
Who are Reflect Orbital's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are SpaceX (Starlink), Planet Labs and AST SpaceMobile. Emerging players are Aetherflux, Heliogen and Voyager Space (Above: Space). Broad incumbents are Iridium Communications, Rocket Lab, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.
Does Reflect Orbital have an API?
No public API is recorded for Reflect Orbital.
What industry is Reflect Orbital in?
Reflect Orbital's product category is Space-based Solar Infrastructure Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMABACAD, Space Payloads & Instruments (Sensors, Comms, EO/IR), with a secondary code of EUACAGAK, Solar Plant Components Supply & Manufacturing (Modules, Cells, Wafers, Mirrors, Heliostats). Its NAICS code is 51741 and its SIC code is 3827.