Space Bubbles: The Deflection of Solar Radiation Using Thin‐Film Inflatable Bubble Rafts

Due to the urgency of climate change and our inability to reduce emissions on Earth, geoengineering is increasingly being considered a viable alternative to tackling the issue of global warming. However, most current geoengineering proposals are considered to be risky due to their intervention with the Earth’s atmosphere. As a safe alternative, the MIT Senseable City Lab is exploring a solar geoengineering approach based on a large raft of thin-film spheres positioned at the Lagrangian point between the Earth and the Sun. The project takes inspiration and surpasses similar research by James Early and Roger Angel regarding deployment complexity and efficiency. In this chapter, we describe the overall approach and lay out the significant scope of research work for the next few years.