IN THE NORMAL course of things, night follows day. But if a Californian startup called Reflect Orbital gets its way(如愿以偿), that might become optional(可选的). The firm, which has raised over $28m in funding since it was founded in 2021, hopes to fly tens of thousands of highly reflective mirrors into space, and then use them to illuminate(照亮) dark parts of Earth on demand(按需). The idea is to provide solar power after sunset, help with disaster relief(救灾) and perhaps even replace streetlights in cities.
通常情况下，黑夜紧随白昼而来。但如果加州初创公司 Reflect Orbital 能够如愿以偿，黑夜或许将不再是必然。这家公司自2021年成立以来已融资超过2800万美元，它希望将数万面高反射率镜子送入太空，然后用它们按需照亮地球上处于黑暗中的区域。其构想是：在日落后提供太阳能发电，协助救灾，甚至可能取代城市路灯。
Sunlight-as-a-service(阳光即服务) is not a new idea. It was first proposed by Hermann Oberth(火箭技术先驱奥伯特), a rocketry pioneer, in 1923. NASA gave the idea a more thorough going-over(仔细审查) in a study published in 1977. Russia got as far as testing the idea in the real world: in 1993 a satellite called Znamya-2 unfurled a 20-metre-diameter mirror which produced a (very dim) spotlight 5km across on Earth’s surface for a few hours before burning up in the atmosphere.(1993年，一颗名为“旗帜2号”的卫星展开了一面直径20米的镜子，在地球表面投射出一个（非常暗淡的）直径5公里的光斑，持续了数小时后便在大气层中烧毁。)
“阳光即服务”并非新概念。它最早由火箭技术先驱赫尔曼·奥伯特于1923年提出。美国国家航空航天局（NASA）在1977年发表的一项研究中对该构想进行了更为彻底的审视。俄罗斯甚至将其付诸实际测试：1993年，一颗名为“旗帜2号”的卫星展开了一面直径20米的镜子，在地球表面投射出一个（非常暗淡的）直径5公里的光斑，持续了数小时后便在大气层中烧毁。
Reflect Orbital hopes to fly its first test satellite, Eärendil-1(托尔金笔下的“埃雅仁迪尔”), later this year. (As is now de rigueur(合乎时尚的) in American tech circles, the satellite’s name is drawn from J.R.R. Tolkien’s books.) When it reaches its 625km orbital altitude, four long boom(支臂)s should extend from its body. Sheets of ultra-thin plastic, coated with highly reflective aluminium, will be stretched between the booms, producing a mirror with a surface area of 160 square metres—about the size of a volleyball court.(覆有高反射率铝层的超薄塑料薄膜将在支臂之间展开，形成一面表面积160平方米的镜子——大约相当于一个排球场大小。) If all goes to plan(如果一切顺利), the satellite will reflect a patch of light about 5.5km across onto Earth’s surface.
Reflect Orbital 希望在今年晚些时候发射其首颗测试卫星“埃雅仁迪尔1号”。（如今在美国科技圈，用托尔金作品中的名字命名卫星已成惯例。）当它抵达625公里的轨道高度时，四根长长的支臂应从星体伸出。覆有高反射率铝层的超薄塑料薄膜将在支臂之间展开，形成一面表面积160平方米的镜子——大约相当于一个排球场大小。如果一切顺利，这颗卫星将向地球表面反射一个直径约5.5公里的光斑。