Meet the Chinese Space Station Telescope — China’s Own Hubble
The Chinese Space Station Telescope will provide the Middle Kingdom with a Hubble-class view of the heavens
Commonly known as the Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST), Xuntian (Heavenly Cruiser) is readying to become China’s first major telescope in space. Unlike previous space telescopes such as Hubble, this orbiting observatory, due for launch in 2024, will be orbiting alongside the Chinese large modular space station, able to dock with the outpost when needed.
One of the most-important characteristics of a telescope is its diameter — which limits how much light it can take in at a single time. The main mirror in Xuntian will have a diameter around two meters (six-and-a-half feet) across, roughly the size of the mirror at the heart of the Hubble Space Telescope. However, the CSST will be able to see 300 times as much sky at one time as its older compatriot.
“The telescope will be set up in an optical module that can fly independently in orbit… [W]e will make it fly approximately in common orbit with the future space station. This will help us refuel the telescope and carry out in-orbit upgrade[s] for it,” Zhou Jianping, a leader in China’s human spaceflight program, told China Central Television.
