WASHINGTON – Astronomers are calling on nations to ban space ads that can be seen from the ground, calling it the latest threat to dark and calm skies.
At a briefing during the 245e At the meeting of the American Astronomical Society earlier this month, the organization rolled out a statement calling for a ban on “intrusive space advertising” because of the interference it could cause to ground-based astronomy.
Intrusive space advertising is defined in U.S. federal law as “outer space advertising that is capable of being recognized by a human on the surface of the Earth without the aid of a telescope or other technological device.” Such advertising is prohibited by federal law by prohibitions in the granting of launch licenses for missions carrying payloads to carry out space advertising.
While that federal ban has been in place for decades, John Barentine of Dark Sky Consulting, a member of the AAS’ Committee for the Protection of Astronomy and the Space Environment (Compasse), said at the briefing that there is growing concern that companies in other nations would launch associated space advertising payloads.
“The lure of it is so great that I can’t imagine no one will try it,” he said. “I think the commercial value will require someone to do it.”
There are no impending space advertising efforts Barentine said he was aware of, but he cited a Russian company, Avant Space. That company launched a 3U Cubeesat in April 2024 that was designed, the company stated, to test technologies on a proposed future constellation of satellites that would maneuver into orbit and shine lasers to form logos or other images for advertisers.
Avant Space has released few details about that demonstration satellite or plans for deploying a constellation. “Their technology demonstration was clearly successful, as far as anyone knows,” Barentine said.
Another Russian company, STARTROCKET, announced in 2019 that it had contracted with PepsiCo’s Russian subsidiary to promote an energy drink using space advertising, featuring a fleet of smallsats reflecting sunlight with Mylar Sails to form the logo. However, PepsiCo’s US headquarters said it was not pursuing such advertising after conducting an “exploratory test” using a high-altitude balloon.
The AA’s statement called for a global ban on intrusive space advertising “by appropriate international convention, treaty or law” and urged the US delegation to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUO’s ) encourage people to advocate for such a ban.
Barentine said he would like the U.S., at Copuos, to “actively promote this issue and try to at least establish a norm within the international community not to engage in this form of advertising.”
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