StartRocket is a Russian private space startup. They have been promoting the idea of space advertisements since early 2019. Project leader Vlad Sitnikov said that this commodification of the sky is the next logical step in advertising. He said, “We are ruled by brands and events. The Super Bowl, Coca-Cola, Brexit, the Olympics, Mercedes, FIFA, Supreme, and the Mexican wall. The economy is the blood system of society. Entertainment and advertising are at its heart. We will live in space, and humankind will start delivering its culture to space. The more professional and experienced pioneers will make it better for everyone.”
In a new report, Russian researchers from Skoltech and MIPT have proposed sending satellites into space to display commercials in the night sky. The report was published in the journal Aerospace. It suggests that the advertising plan would be economical at the cost of sixty-five million dollars per mission.
Shamil Biktimirov is a research intern at Skoltech’s Engineering Center and the first author of the new report. He said, “This time we looked at the economic side of things and, as unrealistic as it may seem, we show that space advertising based on 50 or more small satellites flying in formation could be economically viable.” Each satellite could be as big
as a three hundred square foot solar sail, according to Biktimirov.
Initially, the Skoltech team proposed an advertising mission using a formation of miniature satellites called CubeSats. However, the team first needed to determine the appropriate reflector size and calculate mission lifetime and profitability. Biktimirov said, “Rather than trying to determine the reflector size yielding a certain pixel magnitude, we consider the largest reflector that has actually been successfully deployed and operated on a CubeSat. Namely, a 32-square-meter solar sail. For that reflector, we derive the land area it can cover without sacrificing too much apparent light intensity, and this is what we use in further feasibility calculations.”
Biktimirov stated that revenues would certainly depend on a number of factors, such as outdoor advertising costs, population, cloudiness, cold weather, and the city’s demographic composition. The satellites would not be displaying a single ad from a single brand. Instead, the satellites would be rotating through a number of different ads over the next most profitable city within reach. Biktimirov said, “The key concerns are maximizing overall mission duration and a satellite’s footprint area — the scope of where it can reach to project a ‘pixel’ that would be part of the image in the sky.”
In their report, the researchers remarked that because the satellites have to be exposed to sunlight, the missions could only be performed around sunrise or sunset but not at night. Also, the technology would only be economically feasible for bigger cities that are already permanently exposed to light pollution.
While this idea of space advertising might be attractive to major brands, I cannot help but feel that it might not be so attractive to the average person to have brand names and company logos cluttering their view of the stars, planets and Moon.