Called Orbital Displays, StartRocket wants to launch a grid of nanosatellites called CubeSats 280 miles above ground, where they will unfurl Mylar (a stretched polyester film) sails that are around 30ft in diameter to catch and reflect sunlight, creating a pixelated matrix.

The company wants to use this technology to display brand logos, as well as allowing governments to flash up notices in an emergency situation. The idea has garnered negative reactions across the world, with astronomers and dark-sky advocates voicing their concerns over further light pollution and the implications this could have.

A real Coca Cola logo could appear above famous natural landmarks. Photo: Orbital Displays/Vimeo screenshot

Vladilen Sitnikov, Start Rocket’s CEO, told Astronomy.com: “It’s human nature to advertise everything … brands [are] a beautiful part of humankind.” The message on the company’s website states: “We are creating a media – the orbital display —with potential audience coverage of 7 billion people on the planet.

“The display orbits on 400-500 km altitude and lets us deliver 3-4 messages/images a day, having a viewable area of 50 km2 using the Sun as a light source. CPM (cost per mile) is close [to] the price of the largest media channel in the industry – television.”

Comments on the company’s Vimeo video, demonstrating what these billboards could look like, condemn the idea. One user wrote: “What a horrible idea. If this comes to pass, and companies use it to advertise, I will refuse to buy any of their products ever again. Leave the sky in its natural beauty.”

Another wrote: “Also, this is the worst idea ever. Advertisers who believe they have the right to steal the beauty of our night sky to promote cheeseburgers are going to get permanently boycotted far and wide.”

Start Rocket has said, like most CubeSats, the billboards will not last longer than a year in orbit. The Orbital Displays will only be visible at night and in the morning twilight, according to Patrick Seitzer, astronomy professor at the University of Michigan.

Seitzer told Astronomy.com that launching a project like this “with no commercial, scientific, or national security value seems unwise,” and voiced his concerns over the “overcrowding” of space.

The project is only possible if the company gains enough funding for the project. StartRocket hopes to launch the first billboards as early as 2021, but many have argued that an idea like this is taking consumerism and advertising too far.

Could (and should) a project like this leave the ground? Email summer@linkpublishing.co.uk or reach out on Twitter to join in with the debate.