China is preparing to launch a large space telescope, the Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST), also known as Xuntian, which will orbit alongside its Tiangong space station. Scientists recently completed a full observation simulation in preparation for its deployment.
The Xuntian telescope, which is bus-sized, is scheduled for launch as early as 2027. It is equipped with a 2-meter primary mirror, a size comparable to that of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Chinese space officials indicate that Xuntian is designed to be a highly capable sky survey instrument. It features a 2.5-billion-pixel camera and possesses a field of view approximately 300 times larger than the Hubble, allowing it to survey the sky from near-ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths and deliver high spatial resolution imagery.
As launch preparations proceed, a collaborative Chinese research team developed an end-to-end simulation suite. This suite provided mock observations for the telescope's optical and other observation systems, replicating expected instrumental and observational conditions to evaluate the telescope's overall performance. The findings were published in the journal Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics in early January.
The National Astronomical Observatories under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) led the mock observation study. The Chinese Space Station Telescope is expected to contribute to fields such as cosmology, galaxy studies, the evolution of the Milky Way, and the study of stars and planets. It may also provide insights into dark matter and dark energy.
After its launch on a Long March 5B rocket, Xuntian will operate independently in low Earth orbit while co-orbiting with the Tiangong space station. The spacecraft is designed to dock with Tiangong, enabling astronauts to perform extravehicular activities for maintenance, repair, or upgrades, a capability similar to past servicing missions for the Hubble Space Telescope.