The Chinese state newspaper recently reported that a private aerospace institute in Chengdu plans to launch a controllable “illumination satellite” by 2020. The giant mirror will orbit 500 km above Earth and replace streetlights by illuminating a 10-80 km area with a dusk-like glow eight times brighter than the moon.
And it’s not the first time humanity has tried it. In 1993, Russian scientists launched a similar satellite, which failed.
The BBC has the story here.
