An outlandishly bad idea, you say? The FCC approved their first satellite, Eärendil-1, in July, with launch tentatively scheduled for the second quarter of 2027.
fta (closing line of the article is dry & depressing…):
Eärendil-1 won’t work like a spotlight. From 625 km up, a single mirror can light a target for only about 5 minutes per pass. An all-night search would need a relay of satellites. This is one reason the company wants 50,000 of them by 2035.
