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Pepsi Says It'll Use an Artificial Constellation, Hung in the Night Sky Next To the Stars, To Promote an Energy Drink (futurism.com)
A Russian company called StartRocket says it's going to launch a cluster of cubesats into space that will act as an "orbital billboard," projecting enormous advertisements into the night sky like artificial constellations. And its first client, it says, will be PepsiCo -- which will use the system to promote a "campaign against stereotypes and unjustified prejudices against gamers" on behalf of an energy drink called Adrenaline Rush, reports Futurism. From the report: Yeah, the project sounds like an elaborate prank. But Russian PepsiCo spokesperson Olga Mangova confirmed to Futurism that the collaboration is real. "We believe in StartRocket potential," she wrote in an email. "Orbital billboards are the revolution on the market of communications. That's why on behalf of Adrenaline Rush -- PepsiCo Russia energy non-alcoholic drink, which is brand innovator, and supports everything new, and non-standard -- we agreed on this partnership."
And on a personal note, if I ever needed a reason to boycott PepsiCo products, there it is.
Brought to you by: "Al"toids - the curiously weird mint.
A number of years ago, France was looking at doing something similar, using a number of large Mylar ballons, so they could celebrate an anniversery as the satellite passed overhead, which would glow brightly. This was finally nixed when astronomers made mention that this would destroy their equipment, as it would be difficult to plan for this object to go overhead, and its brightness would fry sensitive photocells.
Again, someone trying a project like this. The fewer items in space, the better. With countries starting to shoot down satellites, it is only a matter of time before the Kessler Syndrome rears its ugly head, and getting past low earth orbit would be impossible.
I'd love to see this. It's a pretty neat technological achievement if it works. So yea, I say do it. Show the world what it's capable of so we can all see it. I think it would be pretty damn neat to see.
Then ban the shit out of it at the international level and force them to de-orbit their sats, so we don't have to ever see it again. Once was plenty.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
This is ultimate result of abandoning things lofty things like beauty and truth as foundations of society and replacing it with what... consumerism? Capitalism? I've spent my whole life as a hard-core republican but lately, the old free market this and libertarian that mantras just leave me feeling empty and dissatisfied.
I looked over it and there were some brands on there that I wasn't aware of Pepsi owning (mostly a few of the snack food brands) but I also realized that there isn't a product on that list that a person couldn't get from someone else or just do without entirely. In fact, you'd probably be better off if you never bought products from almost all of those brands to begin with for health reasons.
They looked on the beautiful night sky, pointing out to each other the constellations they knew, admiring the band of the Milky Way as it swept across the inky night sky.
But all go things must come to an end, they had to get up early to polish the shipping drones for tomorrows run. They stood up, and removed the augmented reality goggles.
Looking up again, one of them thought he could maybe see Orion peeking out from behind the neon cup-o-noodles constellation and northen lighting shading effects, but then it was gone as the remaining colors of the night sky washed over his eyes competing for attention.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
You don't seem to appreciate that they can fold out solar panels, they're not limited to the sides of a cube. Also they could collect power all day and store it in a battery, and only run the LEDs for a short time.
Also you would not have multiple surfaces illuminated.
As for the time out of sunlight at low Earth orbit, it can be as low as zero, and in practice these are already popular orbits.
Your numbers are not best case, they're lower than worst case.