notice, make it low cost, with reusability. All those things are going to be
required, in my view, to move into a new era of U.S space dominance.
62
The public is captured by dreamlike images of humans walking on the red
planet, and entrepreneurs often capitalize on this sentiment. Yet pragmatism and
Realpolitik are always lying behind the iconographic vision of space.
In 2018, Elon Musk launched his Tesla Roadster sport car into space in the
maiden flight of his Falcon Heavy rocket. The car was placed inside the rocket
fairing with an astronaut mannequin onboard. When the fairing flew away, the
camera captured the driver in his spacesuit while David Bowie's song Life on Mars
was playing on the radio. That shot aroused admiration worldwide and served as
an unprecedented, brilliant marketing gimmick. Shortly after, Musk announced
that he would launch a gigantic sculpture into orbit, the so-called Orbital Reflector,
to make "visible the invisible".
63
This artifact was made with polyethylene covered
with titanium dioxide to form a light and flexible material structure. It was supposed to reflect sunlight orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes
64
and basically function as an artificial star. The Nevada Museum of Art, cosponsor of the project,
enthusiastically supported it with arguments that may seem surreal:
While most of us realize that everyday satellites connect telecommunications systems, financial and transportation infrastructure, and military functions around the globe, it is sometimes easy to forget these all-but-invisible
activities. After all, they happen up there in outer space — out of sight, out
of mind.
The media reported this news with the same tones used to describe the behavior
of a rich and spoiled individual behaving in an extravagant way.
The artifact was launched into space onboard a Falcon rocket in 2018 inside a
small satellite, which was supposed to deploy it in orbit through a tubular periscope. In the end, the Orbital Reflector mechanisms ended up failing, and the
object was lost to space as another piece of junk. However, going beyond appearances, one could imagine a more pragmatic use of this bizarre object. For instance,
if it were covered with photovoltaic cells, it could absorb solar energy and transfer
it – perhaps through the same structure that was supposed to hinge it to the small
satellite – to a microwave transmission device. In this way, the extravagant artifact
could have been used as a small-scale prototype to test innovative technologies. In
a not-so-distant future, there could be hundreds of reflectors around the Earth, new
62
https://spacenews.com/in-front-of-a-military-audience-bezos-touts-investments-in-rocketslaunch-facilities/.
63
https://www.orbitalreflector.com/.
64
Idem
Space Economy: A Business On the Launch Pad 97
required, in my view, to move into a new era of U.S space dominance.
62
The public is captured by dreamlike images of humans walking on the red
planet, and entrepreneurs often capitalize on this sentiment. Yet pragmatism and
Realpolitik are always lying behind the iconographic vision of space.
In 2018, Elon Musk launched his Tesla Roadster sport car into space in the
maiden flight of his Falcon Heavy rocket. The car was placed inside the rocket
fairing with an astronaut mannequin onboard. When the fairing flew away, the
camera captured the driver in his spacesuit while David Bowie's song Life on Mars
was playing on the radio. That shot aroused admiration worldwide and served as
an unprecedented, brilliant marketing gimmick. Shortly after, Musk announced
that he would launch a gigantic sculpture into orbit, the so-called Orbital Reflector,
to make "visible the invisible".
63
This artifact was made with polyethylene covered
with titanium dioxide to form a light and flexible material structure. It was supposed to reflect sunlight orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes
64
and basically function as an artificial star. The Nevada Museum of Art, cosponsor of the project,
enthusiastically supported it with arguments that may seem surreal:
While most of us realize that everyday satellites connect telecommunications systems, financial and transportation infrastructure, and military functions around the globe, it is sometimes easy to forget these all-but-invisible
activities. After all, they happen up there in outer space — out of sight, out
of mind.
The media reported this news with the same tones used to describe the behavior
of a rich and spoiled individual behaving in an extravagant way.
The artifact was launched into space onboard a Falcon rocket in 2018 inside a
small satellite, which was supposed to deploy it in orbit through a tubular periscope. In the end, the Orbital Reflector mechanisms ended up failing, and the
object was lost to space as another piece of junk. However, going beyond appearances, one could imagine a more pragmatic use of this bizarre object. For instance,
if it were covered with photovoltaic cells, it could absorb solar energy and transfer
it – perhaps through the same structure that was supposed to hinge it to the small
satellite – to a microwave transmission device. In this way, the extravagant artifact
could have been used as a small-scale prototype to test innovative technologies. In
a not-so-distant future, there could be hundreds of reflectors around the Earth, new
62
https://spacenews.com/in-front-of-a-military-audience-bezos-touts-investments-in-rocketslaunch-facilities/.
63
https://www.orbitalreflector.com/.
64
Idem
Space Economy: A Business On the Launch Pad 97