Man-made moon to shed light on Chengdu in 2020

China's space industry is preparing to launch the world's first artificial moon to help with urban illumination at night, a leading scientist said.

China plans to put an artificial moon in orbit above Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan by 2020. If the launch proves successful, three more such objects will be launched in 2022, Wu Chunfeng, head of Tian Fu New Area Science Society in Chengdu, told China Daily in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

The artificial moon will have a reflective coating that can deflect sunlight back to Earth, similar to how the moon shines, he said.