According to Chinese media, in the city of Chengdu, they are developing a unique satellite for illumination. It is said that its launch will take place in 2020, and work has been going on for several years. The satellite must be many times greater than the moon in terms of brightness, which will help to save on the lighting of the city in clear weather.
As planned by the developers, it is designed to complement night lighting, covering only a certain radius that does not extend beyond the city limits. The device has a powerful reflective component that will direct the light strictly to the desired area. The satellite will be adjusted to highlight only the city of Chengdu.
The satellite’s technical characteristics have not yet been disclosed, but according to official representatives, the technology will make it possible to save quite productively on lighting the city’s streets at night. It is also planned to attract tourists from all over the world.
Experts agree that the light from the satellite will not affect animals and birds, although environmentalists think quite differently. Some experts claim a possible violation of the biorhythms of animals living in this area.
The idea for creating such an illumination was the project of the artist from France, who made a proposal to place a system of mirrors in orbit. It was assumed that the development will help to cover Paris throughout the year.
Russian developments
An interesting fact is the experiments of Russian engineers to create an artificial source of sunlight. Three tests were planned, and only one ended successfully, the second failed, and the latter did not take place at all. The result was the complete closure of the program.
A successful attempt was a project called "Banner-2". Not far from the station "Mir" launched a special reflector, which was installed on the ship "Progress". It turned out to create a bright spot, whose width was about 8 kilometers. During the second experiment, it was planned to deploy a huge reflector, which by its light abilities should have surpassed the moon 10 times. When opening the shell, problems arose that caused the immediate descent of the ship from orbit.
