China puts finishing touches to the world's largest radio telescope
Technology is located in the Guizhou province and is the size of 30 football pitches
- Operations expected to begin in September after 5 year construction period
- Beijing government see space exploration as a major priority
Updated : 08:50
China has added the final piece to its newest radio telescope, which will be the world's largest, on Sunday past.
The telescope will be used to explore space and to aid the search for extraterrestrial life.
Known as the Five Hundred Metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), the structure is the size of 30 football pitches and has been constructed on a mountain in the Guizhou province.
The structure is the size of 30 football pitches
Zheng Xiaonian, deputy head of the National Astronomical Observation under the Chinese Academy and Sciences, said that the work to debug and trial the telescope would begin almost immediately.
"The project has the potential to search for more strange objects to better understand the origin of the universe and boost the global hunt for extraterrestrial life," said Zheng to the Xinhua news agency.
The telescope took 5 years to build, and it is becoming clear that the Chinese government in Beijing are very serious about space exploration, with President Xi Jinping hoping to make them into a space power in the near future.
China insists its programme is for peaceful purposes but the US defence department has highlighted China’s increasing space capabilities, saying it is pursuing activities aimed to prevent adversaries from using space-based assets in a crisis.