Scientists have developed a system of satellites to display symbols and letters in the sky. The beginning of spatial display ?
archyde news, ubiquitous, in our streets and on our telephones, could also be visible in stars. Of the russian researchers have developed a system of satellites to inscribe symbols or letters in the sky. At the theoretical level, everything is ready.
Fifty small satellites placed in orbit reflect sunlight. They act like pixels to write a word or draw a logo.
The message would then be visible from Earth for 3 months. The inscriptions could even change during the passage between two megalopolises.
Many attempts
Space is not at its first attempt. At the end of the 90s, Pizza Hut placed its logo on a russian rocketthen delivered a pizza in the space.
Russian cosmonaut Yuri Usachov eats a pizza delivered by Pizza Hut in 2001. The American company paid $1 million for the pub cut. [Keystone]
In 1997, the Israeli dairy brand, Tnuva, shot the first advertisement in space. It shows cosmonaut Vasily Tsibliyev drinking milk aboard the Russian Mir space station.
Closer to us, in 2018, Tesla took advantage of a test flight of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket to send a car into space. archyde news images that have made the rounds of social networks.
But the idea that hit the headlines dates back to the early 90s. The American company, Space Marketing, wanted to launch into space a billboard visible to the naked eye from Earth. For us, it would have been half the size of the moon.
The controversy swells. US Senator James Jeffords passes a text allowing the Department of Transport to prevent access to a rocket launch license, if the objective is to put an advertisement in space. Finally the project does not succeed, for lack of investors.
Lower costs
Satellites use sunlight to draw pixels.Currently, the questions around a possible space pub are numerous. Are we ready to accept publicity in the sky? What impact for astronomical observation and the environment? Are the technological costs not too high?
It is on this point that the idea of the Russian researchers seems relevant. They estimate that their system would cost $65 million. With 24 spaces available in 3 months, the price of would then be cheaper than a broadcast during the Super Bowl.
Why talk about it today, when the project is only theoretical? If everything is not desirable, everything is now possible in terms of space. There have never been so many investors in the sector.
Boom du commerce spatial
Commercial activities in space are booming, analysts say. In 2020, they generated more than 350 billion francs. Morgan Stanley estimates that this figure will exceed 1 trillion by 2040.
Today, we are experiencing a real economic race for space. France announced last month an investment of 9 billion francs in the space sector, for the next 3 years.
Switzerland also invests in space research. The 2022 budget is 190.5 million for participation in the European Space Agency.
We must add 9.5 million for national activities. And another 15 million under the Horizon Europe program (research and innovation).
The greatest Swiss success in the space field is to be credited to an EPFL start-up, Clearspace. It will carry out the very first mission to capture space debris. It’s a contract worth 100 million francs. Launch scheduled for 2026. Today, in Switzerland, around a hundred companies work in the space sector.
Pascal Wassmer