Helios lets you direct an orbital reflector satellite to illuminate any GPS coordinate on Earth — no middleman, no service fees, no gatekeepers. Just you and the sun.
Helios is an open-source mobile app that communicates directly with orbital reflector satellites — spacecraft equipped with large, lightweight mirrors that redirect concentrated sunlight to precise locations on Earth.
Point your phone's camera at any spot, tap capture, and your GPS coordinates are transmitted to the satellite. Within seconds, the reflector adjusts its angle and directs a beam of sunlight exactly where you aimed.
The entire flow — from targeting to illumination — happens on your device. There's no account to create, no subscription, no approval queue. You own the entire pipeline.
Watch the full flow — from opening the app to illuminating a target.
Directed sunlight has real, practical applications across agriculture, infrastructure, disaster response, and daily life.
Extend growing seasons for farms in valleys, high latitudes, or shaded terrain. Supplemental sunlight boosts photosynthesis in regions that receive limited daylight hours — reducing dependence on artificial grow lights and their energy costs.
Dense cityscapes create permanent shadows at street level. Helios can illuminate public parks, plazas, and pedestrian areas trapped in high-rise shade — improving quality of life, vitamin D exposure, and reducing seasonal depression in urban populations.
After natural disasters knock out power grids, orbital sunlight provides illumination for search-and-rescue teams operating at night or in overcast conditions — no generators, no fuel logistics, just instant light from orbit.
Supplement solar panel arrays during cloudy days or winter months when panel output plummets. Directed sunlight onto existing solar farms increases energy yield without installing additional panels — a force multiplier for renewable infrastructure.
Towns above the Arctic Circle face months of polar night. Reflected sunlight can extend daylight hours for communities where darkness dominates half the year — supporting mental health, outdoor work, and normal daily routines.
Deliver controlled, on-demand natural light for field research in ecology, glaciology, and atmospheric science. Researchers in caves, deep valleys, or underground observatories can receive direct sunlight without relocating equipment.
Traditional satellite illumination services charge exorbitant fees, gate access behind enterprise contracts, and throttle usage. Helios puts you in direct control.
Commercial reflector services charge per-minute illumination fees, monthly subscriptions, and API access costs that add up fast. Helios is free and open source — you connect directly to the satellite endpoint. The only cost is the hardware you already own: your phone.
No rate limits. No approval queues. No "enterprise tier" to unlock basic features. Configure your own endpoint, set your own access codes, and issue illuminate commands whenever you need them. Full protocol documentation is built right into the app.
Other platforms require web dashboards, coordinate entry forms, and manual scheduling. Helios uses your phone's camera and GPS — aim at a location, tap the capture button, and the command is sent instantly. The entire flow takes under 5 seconds.
Run your own satellite control server or connect to any compatible endpoint. No vendor lock-in, no proprietary protocols. The WebSocket and HTTP interfaces are fully documented so you can integrate Helios into your own infrastructure, automation pipelines, or research workflows.
No accounts. No API keys. Just clone, install, and go.
Grab the source from GitHub.
git clone https://github.com/joedhawan/repo-local.git
cd repo-local
Use the legacy peer deps flag for React 19 compatibility.
npm install --legacy-peer-deps
Scan the QR code with Expo Go on your phone.
npx expo start
Open the Settings tab, enter your endpoint credentials, and tap Connect. Set host to demo to try the full experience with simulated hardware.