The first two microsatellites with laser diodes, which will make it possible to write messages in the sky similar to ones on billboards, will be launched into orbit in 2022, the director of the Project Implementation Department at Russia’s United Rocket and Space Corporation (URSC) Andrei Divaev told state-run news agency TASS.
“We will transport two devices to the ISS aboard the Progress cargo spacecraft, where a container will be mounted in the transition compartment, which will launch them when the spaceship is undocked,” he said.
They will be controlled as part of a swarm of satellites, which in the future will be launched into orbit as part of the Sozvezdiye (Constellation) experiment, announced last year.
“A panel with laser diodes is installed on the satellites, which focus and create a source of light of sufficient power so that the light can be seen on Earth,” Divaev added.
He explained that it would be possible to write any messages in the sky, including advertisements. “The idea is to maximize the commercialization of space in terms of ordinary terrestrial interests,” he pointed out.
According to Divaev, the experiment is scheduled for 2022.
