Chengdu is waiting for a "new moon" to illuminate its streets by 2020.
Create a "new moon" eight times brighter than our natural satellite. A luminous balloon made by the man who illuminates an entire city and is visible from other parts of the country and from abroad.
This is the goal of the Chengdu Aerospace Research Institute, one of the world's three most populous cities. Western China.
The planned date for placing this "artificial moon" in orbit in space is 2020, reported the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party . The People's Daily .
The objective is " save money to the city by eliminating the need for street lamps, because we expect that this artificial star can illuminate an area of up to 80 kilometers in diameter, "says the report. ] Little is known about its height and size, nor about the financing of the project, but the idea is to reflect sunlight through wings that would work like solar panels.