China wants to send an artificial moon in 2020. Is this possible?

Although this week the Asian country announced its intention to launch an artificial satellite, the technical details, the cost and the date of execution of the project were hitherto unknown.

An article published in the People's Daily, China's official media, went around the world this week. "China plans to have its own artificial moon in 2020", "Chinese city wants to launch a false moon to light its streets", "China could have its own moon", are some of the titles with which different portals have reproduced the news. (Read this Friday, a new ship will take off to explore Mercury)

The announcement is brief: according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CCAC), the country is considering the launch of an artifact to illuminate much of the city of Chengdu, southwest of the Asian giant. The idea, they say, is that this "artificial moon" is launched in 2020 and can light up an area of ​​10 to 80 kilometers in diameter. The lighting range can be controlled, so that, they say, could replace the artificial light. (Read Confirm that a meteor hit a building in Japan)

Wu Chunfeng, chairman of the CCAC, which is the main contractor of the Chinese space program, was the person who announced this announcement at a major innovation event. According to him, the tests to make this launch had begun several years ago. The technology to do it, he warned, had already evolved enough to achieve it. (Read the 10 posthumous responses of Stephen Hawking to universal questions)

Can it be realized? I would ask him if there was enough data to support the idea. The English newspaper The Guardian, for example, casts doubt on this. "The probability of a false moon leaving Chengdu remains to be seen," he said.

The Smithsonian portal also questions the possibility of a successful end of Chinese projects. The reason? The details of the "moon", the technical specifications, its cost and the release date are still unknown.

However, CCAC officials said they had already done enough tests to say that the launch would be ready in a short time.

For the moment, concerns have been expressed in the scientific community. One of them is whether this experiment will affect the cycles of species that inhabit the region or not. Kang Weimin, director of the Institute of Optics, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology, told the People's Daily that there was no need to worry because the light would be similar to the glow of the moon in the dark, so that it would not be affected the animal routines.

And even though we still do not have much certainty about the possibilities of this launch, the truth is that in recent years, they have tried to do similar tests. The best known is that of the Znamy project, led by Russia. It was a series of orbital mirrors that sought to reflect sunlight in Siberia. The Russian Federal Space Agency has abandoned its intentions after the incomplete takeoff of Znamya 2.5.