The space billboard that nearly happened

How a 1993 plan to launch ads into space turned into a national freakout. In the 1990s, space was for sale. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. In 1993, Mike Lawson, an aerospace entrepreneur based in Roswell, Georgia, unveiled his vision for a brave new future of advertising: space billboards. This wasn't a half-baked scheme: Lawson had meticulous plans for a proposed 1996 launch: His team of engineers would shoot a package of tightly-wound mylar into orbit about 180 miles above the Earth.