China Is Planning to Launch Its Own Man-Made Moon by 2020

China plans to launch man-made moon by 2020 to reflect the light from the sun to illuminate city streets at night.

China is planning to put an artificial moon in space. 

(Photo: The Quint)

China is preparing to launch its own ‘artificial moon’ by 2020 with a plan to illuminate city streets after dark.

In what might sound as the most audacious plan ever, Chinese scientists are planning to put the man-made moon into orbit 500 kilometers above the city of Chengdu, according to a China Daily report.

The artificial satellite will be retrofitted with reflective coating to bounce the light of the sun back to Earth, where it will supplement streetlights at night.

According to the estimates made by Chinese scientists, the light could be eight times more luminous than the Earth’s moon. Currently the project is to launch only one such moon and depending on the success of the same the Chinese will plan to launch 3 more moons like these by 2022.

Wu Chunfeng, chief of the Tian Fu New Area Science Society, has estimated that the new artificial moons could save the city of Chengdu around 1.2 billion yuan ($173 million) in electricity costs annually. It could also assist first responders during blackouts and natural disasters.

But, before the final launch there are numerous tests to be run to ensure the plan will not have a detrimental effect on the natural environment.

We will only conduct our tests in an uninhabited desert, so our light beams will not interfere with any people or Earth-based space observation equipment.

Wu Chunfeng to the China Daily

If deployed, the three new man-made moons will be able to reflect sunlight, and together will be able to illuminate an area of around 3,600 sq km to 6,400 sq km on Earth for 24 hours if desired, Wu said.

He added that countries like China, US, Japan, Russia and European countries are all striving towards harnessing energy from space, and reflecting mirrors have been the talk of the town for some time.

Looks like nights will be bright in China!