Artificial moon will light up Chinese cities

Wu Chunfend, president of the Chengdu Aerospace Technology and Microelectronics Systems Research Institute, revealed the plan at a city event. The artificial moon could be controlled to light up an area with a diameter of 10 to 80 kilometers, saving the city up to 1.2 billion yuan ($178 million) in electricity costs. It is unclear whether the project will be successful.

The artificial moon project has faced some criticism that it would cause light pollution and affect astronomical observations. However, Kang Weimin, director of the Institute of Optics, said the satellite would only glow dimly like dusk.

This is not the first time humans have attempted to launch a light-reflecting object into space, but most similar plans have failed.

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