China Fuyan: Beijing's defence against near-earth asteroids

China Fuyan (faceted eye), a brand-new high-definition deep-space active observation station, is presently being built in the nation's Southwest Chongqing municipality. The facility will have scattered radars, each with a diameter of 25 to 30 metres and more than 20 antennas. These antennas will work together to conduct high-definition observations of asteroids within 150 million kilometres, according to the project's leading institution, the Beijing Institute of Technology.

Chinese experts anticipate that this facility will help them address their nation's needs for advanced space sensing, near-Earth defence, and studies on the habitability of Earth and asteroids. The Chinese researchers gave the device a catchy name, China Fuyan, since it contains many antennas, much like the facetted eyes of an insect, claims Long Teng, president of the Beijing Institute of Technology and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Civil-military integration

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The National Astronomical Observatories of China, which are part of the China Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, and Peking University, are working together on the project under the direction of a team from the Beijing Institute of Technology (BTI).

The BTI was listed as "one of the 'Seven Sons of National Defence'," "a leading centre of military research," and "one of only fourteen institutions accredited to award doctorates in weapons science" in the China's Defense Universities Tracker published by the International Cyber Policy Center at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in 2019.

It has 34 designated defence research fields, including missile technology, radar, and weapon systems, and is classified as "extremely high risk" and "top secret."

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.