In 1993, Russia tried to light up Siberia 24 hours a day: Just six minutes later, the dream failed

In the early 1990s, Russia launched one of the most ambitious and unusual space projects in its history. Amid the turmoil that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, a team of engineers set out to prove that sunlight could be reflected from space to illuminate the Earth at night. The goal was to extend daylight hours in regions such as Siberia and make life and work easier in remote areas without relying on artificial lighting.

How did Russia plan to turn night into day?

The project was based on a concept that had been circulating for decades. During World War II, Nazi Germany proposed the idea of the Sonnengewehr (“Sun Gun”), a satellite equipped with a massive mirror designed to concentrate sunlight, although the concept never advanced beyond the theoretical stage. Years later, Russia revived the same basic idea, this time for peaceful civilian purposes.

Vladimir Syromyatnikov, the engineer renowned for his contributions to the Soviet space program, led the development of the space mirror. After an initial prototype that never made it off the ground, Russia launched Znamya 2 in 1993. The spacecraft carried a circular mirror 66 feet in diameter, made from aluminum-coated plastic and weighing less than 10 pounds.

Initial results give way to project cancellation

The experiment was a partial success. On February 4, 1993, the mirror managed to reflect a beam of light roughly 2.5 miles across over parts of Europe for approximately six minutes, creating a brief effect similar to daylight. The phenomenon was clearly visible both to the cosmonauts involved in the mission and to observers on the ground.

Encouraged by the result, engineers began designing more advanced versions, envisioning a network of orbital mirrors capable of continuously illuminating parts of Siberia, major construction sites, and regions without access to the electrical grid. However, Znamya 2.5, launched in 1999, failed when the mirror became snagged on an antenna during deployment. The setback ultimately led to the cancellation of the program before the planned Znamya 3 could ever be built.

Although the initiative never became a reality, the concept of space-based mirrors has never completely disappeared. Today, several private companies are exploring similar technologies that could redirect sunlight toward facilities equipped with photovoltaic panels, extending the amount of time they can generate electricity. The technology has evolved dramatically since then, but that brief demonstration in 1993 remains the most famous experiment linked to a vision that quite literally sought to turn night into day.

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