China is set to launch a fake ‘moon’ into space to help light up the biggest cities in the country

One of the cities earmarked for this fake ‘moon’ is Chengdu, a city located in China's southwestern province of Sichuan, with a population of 14 million people. Officials have announced plans to place a satellite in orbit by 2020 capable of reflecting sunlight onto the streets at night.

When launched, and if successful, the satellite should be bright enough to entirely replace street lights. Wu Chunfeng, the Chairman of the city’s Aerospace Science and Technology Microelectronics System Research Institute, explained that the satellite would use a reflective coating to direct light to illuminate an area on earth of up to 50 square miles.

He indicated that the artificial moon has been that the artificial moon has been undergoing testing for several years now.

According to him, this satellite will produce at least eight times more light than the real moon does.

This comes after Russia attempted a similar project almost two decades ago.In 1999 Russian researchers planned to use orbiting mirrors to light up cities in Siberia, hoping it would be a cheaper alternative to electric lighting.

Meanwhile, scientists are sceptical about the idea, insisting the device could disturb wildlife and as well as the earth’s atmosphere.