China will launch a big space telescope in 2023 to investigate distant galaxies
China wants to launch its first large space telescope in late 2023 to survey the skies.The Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST) is an optical and ultraviolet space observatory that will boast a 6.6-foot-diameter lens. Though the resolution of China's telescope will be similar to Hubble's, the CSST's field of view will be 350 times larger.
This means the CSST will be able to observe much greater expanses of the sky at a time and will survey 40% of the sky with its 2.5 billion-pixel camera during the planned 10-year mission lifetime.
The CSST will carry four additional instruments for mapping star-forming regions, detecting fast-moving objects, studying supermassive black holes, and directly imaging exoplanets.
It will operate in a similar orbit as the country's Tiangong space station, allowing the telescope to dock with the outpost for repairs, maintenance and upgrades.
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