Alexander C. Kaufman pfp
Alexander C. Kaufman

@kaufman

SCOOP: Stardust Solutions, the U.S.-Israeli geoengineering startup, is making the world's most significant attempt at establishing a commercial enterprise for spraying reflective particles into the atmosphere to cool the planet. The company sold investors, raising $60 million last year. Now it's looking to sell the rest of us. Today Stardust is putting out two papers — one, a detailed statement of ethics and principles; the other a technical explanation of how it believes its technology could be safely tested — meant to start a public conversation about its potential role in any future geoengineering program. I got an exclusive first look at both documents for The Atlantic. The consensus on what was once broadly considered (and still is by many) a dystopian Pandora's box has shifted in recent years, with more scientists and environment groups embracing the need to at least study the technology. The papers don't answer perhaps the biggest question skeptics have about Stardust: What is the particle? CEO Yanai Yedvab told me the company will release that "in the coming months." That gradual unveiling may agitate some critics who feel the bar for earning public trust is so high it demands extraordinary transparency. But here's my initial read on the first look I got at Stardust's most detailed public statement to date. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/2026/04/stardust-solar-radiation-management/686664/
8 replies
1 recast
22 reactions