China launches telescope with vision 300 times wider than Hubble

China has once again demonstrated its ambition to conquer space with a plan to launch a telescope with a field of view 300 times wider than Hubble along with the Tiangong-3 space station in 2022.

According to Tech Times, Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space program, confirmed plans to install the telescope on the Tiangong-3 space station early last week. The two-meter-wide lens gives the telescope a field of view 300 times larger than NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

A graphic of the space telescope on the Tiangong-3 space station. Photo: Adrian Mann.

With a wider field of view, China's space telescope could map 40% of the universe in 10 years. The telescope is designed to search for dark matter, dark energy and extrasolar planets. Besides its impressive view, its planned location is also noteworthy.

The telescope will orbit near the space station, according to Zhang Yulin, vice chairman of the National People's Congress and former chairman of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

This close proximity allows Chinese astronauts to quickly repair equipment when needed, while NASA once spent 3.5 years to fix the Hubble telescope's broken mirror. Tiangong-3 is also equipped with two 15-meter-long robotic arms, which are useful for repair work.

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According to VnE