Submitted by kelev11en t3_xwj4kk in Futurology
Comments
FuturologyBot t1_ir6v36w wrote
The following submission statement was provided by /u/kelev11en:
Submission statement:
A scary thought: orbital ads hovering over major cities.
In a new paper published in the journal Aerospace, researchers from the Moscow-based technical institute Skoltech and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology concluded that sending a formation of satellites into orbit to display commercials above population centers could not only be feasible, but cost a mere $65 million per mission.
Each individual "pixel" or satellite of the space billboard would have to be pretty massive to reflect enough light and make the whole thing financially feasible. One researcher suggested each cubesat satellite could be as large as a 350-square-foot solar sail, referencing the area of LightSail 2, the largest solar sail to have ever been sent to space so far.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/xwj4kk/russian_scientists_propose_plan_to_launch_huge/ir6prfv/
IsThereAnythingLeft- t1_ir6z0uy wrote
There is no way this could be justified, every satellite should have to have a useful purpose
Sudden-Cat5805 t1_ir700ib wrote
They're going to have to change the Firefly theme song.
cryowastakenbycryo t1_ir73xni wrote
Oh yes, please! This is exactly what I'm missing in my life!
_Blackstar t1_ir74uli wrote
I feel like this belongs over on r/mildlyinfuriating
RaccoonCityTacos t1_ir75ixg wrote
There's a little thing going on called the Ukraine War which has proven Russia can't launch jack-shit.
nidhy_smithy t1_ir75pzj wrote
How else am I going to know to buy starbucks, grow a brain
Sec9PublicSecurity t1_ir761yh wrote
Advertisements are getting to a point they will have a negative effect. They are getting so pushy with advertisements that it’s going to cause people away.
Example, I was using Dr. Squatch, looked up the bars they had online for different scents and got bombarded with Dr. Squatch ads all day when doing things online.
I buy from a local guy for cold press bars now and will never buy another Dr. Squatch cus of the advertisement overflow.
_Sp000n t1_ir768s3 wrote
I can't wait til 2170 when we live in a cyberpunk dystopia. Cancer has been eradicated, average life expectancy is tenfold, and the government is just as corrupt as it normally is. As you're on your nightly walk through the city you can't help but look up at the beautiful sky and notice that...
The McRib is Back
[deleted] t1_ir76bd6 wrote
Interesting that this idea has been around for 100 years. But as soon as the war started and countries pulled all their companies out of Russia they bring this idea up. Lol they must be hurting financially and think this will bring companies back. It won’t. If they stop killing innocent Ukrainians that will work.
[deleted] t1_ir78jtm wrote
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Leemour t1_ir798xj wrote
This kind of light pollution will annihilate the remaining moth and other nocturnal insect population the relies on the moon and other faint lights from the nightsky to navigate.
Also, a far more effective method would be to just flood devices with ads as it's already being done. Looking forward to seeing Starbucks everywhere because they are literally forcing it into my brain through some network.
ArgosCyclos t1_ir79gpr wrote
I think any place where this goes into affect should immediately be permitted to eat any 1%er they can get their hands on. That's a future we all can get behind.
Just_a_normal_guy3 t1_ir7atne wrote
Imagine sitting in a park with your girlfriend and looking at clouds and seeing a Starbucks ad pass over you and blocking out the sun like an eclipse.
Evethewolfoxo t1_ir7b5jv wrote
The issue is it’s already gotten to that point. Back in ye olden days you had a couple ads strewn about the newspaper pages, maybe some on telephone poles or posted inside businesses, or even billboards. Now you open up any (shitty) news website and you have the article strewn about the ads, or even the website we’re using now has ads disguised as posts. It’s too fuckin much. Turn on the radio, ads, turn on tv, minutes of ads, try to read something online, ads. They pay for these things, sure, but at what cost? I refuse to use radio when i can just pirate or buy music direct from bands. I refuse to watch TV cause i can play a game and only stop when needed rather than stopping for upwards of 30 minutes total to watch a 30 minute episode. Hell i downvote every ad i see. Does it do anything? No, but i’m just fed up with it.
Aquatic_Ceremony t1_ir7bdu6 wrote
We are slowly getting on our way to the world of Cyberpunk 2077 where corpos are blasting ads in the sky all the way to space.
WarmAppleCobbler t1_ir7bh3d wrote
20-30 years from now, an unobstructed, advertisement-free sky will be a commodity in and of itself and I hate this
TheDeadlySquid t1_ir7bj2u wrote
Awful. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Befuddled_Cultist t1_ir7bm5p wrote
At first we did it for the ad space, then we did it for the propaganda, then we did it for ad space again!
s332891670 t1_ir7cr3q wrote
Honestly worth it for the McRib.
Shot-Job-8841 t1_ir7d4qm wrote
Eh, Corporations are bot independent of the government to the same extent as they are in CP2020. And in CP2020, corpos often would wage open war against other corps. That’s actually become less common in recent decades, I think most us would be very surprised if Zuck started killing TikTok executives.
[deleted] t1_ir7e7k1 wrote
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Right_Anywhere2412 t1_ir7fh1z wrote
Instead of Starbucks they should Write „no war, putin is death“ or something like that in the sky👀
CaptValentine t1_ir7gl81 wrote
Okay, the first company to buy space on these ads gets their offices burned to the ground by the rest of us, agreed?
Shot-Job-8841 t1_ir7gn0q wrote
I’ll admit, Zuck hiring assassins to retake market share from TikTok would be a very interesting headline.
Nobushimain17 t1_ir7gset wrote
McRib is love McRib is life
Aquatic_Ceremony t1_ir7hu9q wrote
>I think most us would be very surprised if Zuck started killing TikTok executives.
That sounds pretty bad, and yet not the worst thing he and Facebook did. And I am going to be honest, seeing a corpo war would be totally rad 🍿.
slutgenius t1_ir7itkl wrote
No, youre wrong TRE45ON is not our president now.
With his best bud Jeffery ...
Muzzlehatch t1_ir7l247 wrote
One more reason it would be better if we didn’t have Russia around anymore thank you very much.
PapaAlpaka t1_ir7m58v wrote
Communication Design experts just didn't find *your* ad yet.
Markqz t1_ir7mqkt wrote
I'm thinking that even a cluster of 50 350 square foot satellites at low-earth distance would form just a tiny little smidgen of an image -- not the humongous image used in the article. A low earth orbit satellite circles the planet every 90 minutes, I'd guess the image would only be available for about a quarter of that time, so about 22 minutes, and only at dawn or dusk.
So, overall, it seems more of a prank than a practical advertising scheme.
Pandral t1_ir7no5g wrote
Can’t wait
[deleted] t1_ir7rd7s wrote
Every Russian Tank turret launched into orbit is an advertisement to buy Javelins from the west. Maybe orbital light pollution is not the way to go for Russias scientists. Maybe start smaller with just getting indoor plumbing for all Russians so they don't feel the need to murder their neighbours for their indoor toilets.
ackillesBAC t1_ir7s1c6 wrote
Make it a giant sun shade too and boom capitalism solved global warming
yunabladez t1_ir7son9 wrote
Leela: Didn't you have ad's in the 20th century?
Fry: Well sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio. And in magazines. And movies. And at ball games and on buses and milk cartons and t-shirts and written on the sky. But not in dreams. No siree!
Draxus335 t1_ir7swkp wrote
This was my first thought lol, 100% fits into that kind of high tech corpo madness.
draculamilktoast t1_ir7ufdb wrote
Jokes on them. Nobody can see the sky thanks to their light and regular pollution anyways.
[deleted] t1_ir7wuck wrote
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BrokenaRephlection t1_ir7x4ax wrote
I like your thoughts but in reality they'll post complaints on social media for a bit then it will become normal and they'll forget about it.
BrokenaRephlection t1_ir7xc8x wrote
I can't wait for the night sky equivalent of the burnt out neon bar sign with two missing letters and an "s" that flickers on and off with a fizzing nose.
VitaminPb t1_ir7xzu8 wrote
I would like him better. I’d still hate him, just not as much.
[deleted] t1_ir7y0r9 wrote
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thrawn1825 t1_ir7y36q wrote
Imagine hacking this system and displaying anti-Putin messages. That’d be sweet.
VitaminPb t1_ir7yabq wrote
Yeah. But season 2 was so amazing.
VitaminPb t1_ir7yj87 wrote
Also, you would need separation and the orbital times to each side (north/south) for the satellite chain would be slightly different. You would probably start to get distortion within a day or less.
BlakeMW t1_ir7ykjo wrote
Given that the scheme is more-or-less physically impossible I have to wonder if it's promoted for no other reason than to foment outrage.
[deleted] t1_ir7znz3 wrote
Not sure, this is just to far in my opinion, consume almost never follows publicity, but when is about hating something, man people like to hate brands the same way they like to love them.Many examples in the making right now, like Netflix, Facebook, apple and many more, give it a couple weeks and you will see the amount of hate Tesla and Twitter will build up together, is not like 1+1 = success, is more like only one will survive.
Element_Zero_ t1_ir7zomi wrote
I hate you
tocksin t1_ir8003w wrote
ad companies: why not both?
[deleted] t1_ir81hfa wrote
It’s not impossible we have been doing it since like the 1950s with spot lights. People just get pissed about it so it never happened. But humans have been thinking of this forever. I think Russia wants war machine money..
CTBthanatos t1_ir8a4sj wrote
Umbrella's would be the latest new adblockers
AShittySmashPlayer t1_ir8bz0l wrote
The potential for the world’s largest rickroll tho
JohnnyBeGoodz t1_ir8ct53 wrote
They can advertise for all the restaurants that left them
HerbalGamer t1_ir8dl55 wrote
All I see is a free shooting range.
Otherwise_Basis_6328 t1_ir8l2hh wrote
Oh no.. Someone hacked the sky, again.
IGC-Omega t1_ir8nyvr wrote
Yeah this isn't new either. I think Pepsi or Redbull maybe I can't remember was floating the idea a few years ago.
This should be illegal imo. Having tons of satieties messes up ground based astronomy telescopes. Starlink is already messing up the sky survey.
[deleted] t1_ir8sksg wrote
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flower4000 t1_ir8t0og wrote
I’ve become obsessed with looking at the night sky and the moon every night over the last couple years cus I know in 10-15 years, we as humans will ruin it (like the ocean) and it won’t be as beautiful.
flower4000 t1_ir8t6x3 wrote
I don’t want ads all over anything yet capitalize ruins everything they can.
teratogenic17 t1_ir8te51 wrote
Any corporation that tries this should be burned to the ground.
kolitics t1_ir8tn8j wrote
And Orion has a dick now, great.
kolitics t1_ir8tqq4 wrote
Burn the land and boil the sea. You can't take the sky from me.
DrSuviel t1_ir8whbh wrote
I know everyone is freaked out by this, but I don't think it's nearly as practical as this is making it sound. In fact, it may just be an attempt by those scientists to get venture capital and bail with it.
If you were going to keep a billboard above a city, it needs to be in geostationary orbit. That is a distance of 36 thousand kilometers. Even if a pixel is 350 sq.ft. and is reflecting a lot of light, it's just going to look like a star at best. They would need an absolute shitload of them to make something that is readable as text or a logo.
If they put them in a low orbit like the Starlink satellites, that's a mere 550 km. At that distance, yes, they would probably be visible. But they'd be moving fast. You'd just see the ad zoom across the sky and would only be visible to inhabited regions very briefly. This'd only even be worth attempting at the handful of latitudes that go close to multiple major cities. But more importantly, you can't deploy a light sail at that altitude. Like, the way a light sail works is it's extremely, extremely thin and needs to be moving through completely empty space, so that the pressure from light exceeds drag even from hydrogen atoms. At 550 km, the molecules of Earth's atmosphere are going to be producing a shitload more drag than such a sail is designed for. Losing orbital velocity (and with it, altitude) is one of the limitations on a satellite's lifespan, and a cubesat can't carry enough reaction mass to fight the drag for very long. The whole constellation would need to be replaced at such an extremely high frequency that I doubt anyone would find it worth it.
At least, it wouldn't be worth it economically. Even at $65 million a launch, Musk and Bezos could afford to burn that every week for the next 250 years, just to put their dick and balls in the sky or something.
[deleted] t1_ir98vg0 wrote
No propellor head has ever understood this.
slazer2k t1_ir9hehy wrote
Extend your car warranty ad blinking in the sky imagine that wtf I agree with you buddy!
DireMacrophage t1_ira342k wrote
Feels like a waste of money. We already know that Russia can infiltrate cities like London with such ease that they can assassinate whoever they feel like, and even the throwaway agents goons they use get away scot free. It's like Philby all over again, the level of infiltration they've got going. [Sorry, couldn't resist the jab.]
And the advertising industry is notoriously corrupt.
Why launch a bunch of space junk, instead of calling old pal Murdoch and getting a cheap anti-anti-Russia campaign out to hundreds of millions of conservative media consuming voters across a dozen nations?
phpdevster t1_irae7wc wrote
The only way these would be able to actually hover over cities is if they are in geostationary orbits. The only way they can be in geostationary orbits is if they are way the fuck out there in space. If they are way the fuck out there in space, that means they're going to be visible from much farther away than cities, so even rural areas will have to suffer from the light pollution these will cause.
Advanced-Payment-358 t1_irahot3 wrote
I think public advertising should be regulated more. I hate ads.
TheMalcus t1_irbzyih wrote
Considering such satellites would probably be launched with expendable rockets, the general cost of any satellites, and the size and power that would be necessary for such satellites to be not only seen in urban areas but be clear enough for people to recognize what is being advertised, to say nothing of orbital mechanics, this seems like an absurdly complicated and expensive way to acquire customers.
WimbleWimble t1_irge6y6 wrote
Same Russia that's currently giving its soldiers a single 1/2lb block of cheese per soldier to feed them for an entire week?
and moldy guns with just 4 bullets each?
Same russia where the "real" soldiers are murdering the conscripts as they arrive if they won't turn over their block of cheese + 4 bullets?
Minimum-Ad-8056 t1_is1p74g wrote
They can even make tanks that can travel a few hundred miles without getting stuck I'm mud. Tanks.
kelev11en OP t1_ir6prfv wrote
Submission statement:
A scary thought: orbital ads hovering over major cities.
In a new paper published in the journal Aerospace, researchers from the Moscow-based technical institute Skoltech and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology concluded that sending a formation of satellites into orbit to display commercials above population centers could not only be feasible, but cost a mere $65 million per mission.
Each individual "pixel" or satellite of the space billboard would have to be pretty massive to reflect enough light and make the whole thing financially feasible. One researcher suggested each cubesat satellite could be as large as a 350-square-foot solar sail, referencing the area of LightSail 2, the largest solar sail to have ever been sent to space so far.