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By reflecting sunlight, satellites could replace streetlights (Representation)
China plans to launch its own "artificial moon" by 2020 to replace streetlights and reduce Electricity costs in urban areas, state media reported Friday.
Chengdu, a city in southwestern Sichuan Province, is developing "lighting satellites" that shine at the same rate as the real moon, but are eight times brighter, according to China Daily.
The hand-made moon will be launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan, and three more will follow in 2022 if the first test goes well, said Wu Chunfeng, head of the new science society from the Tian Fu region, the organization responsible for the project.
Although the first launch is experimental, the 2022 satellites "will be the real deal with great civic and commercial potential," he said in an interview with the China Daily.
By reflecting sunlight, uld satellites replace streetlights in urban areas, saving about 1.2 billion yuan ($ 170 million) a year in electricity costs for Chengdu, if artificial moons illuminate an area of 50 square kilometers.
The extraterrestrial light source could also help
AFP was unable to contact Wu or the Tian Fu New Space Science Society to confirm this information.
China's space program aims to catch up with that of the United States. In the United States and Russia, a number of ambitious projects are in preparation, including the lunar probe Chang & # 39; e-4, named after the goddess of the moon in Chinese mythology, which is expected to be launched later this year. If he succeeds, it will be the first rover to explore the "dark side" of the moon.
China is not the first country to attempt to return solar radiation to Earth. In the 1990s, Russian scientists would have used giant mirrors to reflect the light of space as part of an experimental project called Znamya or Banner
. The Chengdu Artificial Moon Project was announced by Wu at a conference on innovation and entrepreneurship in Chengdu on Oct. 10.
In addition to the new science company Tian Fu sector, other universities and institutes, including the Harbin Institute of Technology and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, participate in the development of satellites of 39, Chengdu lighting.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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