China's Xuntian Space Telescope: Ready for liftoff in 2027
China is gearing up to launch the Xuntian space telescope in 2027.
Riding aboard a Long March 5B rocket, Xuntian will orbit Earth and occasionally dock with the Tiangong space station for tune-ups by astronauts.
The team has already run full simulations, making sure its tech checks out before showtime.
Why Xuntian stands out
Xuntian is equipped with multiple powerful instruments, including a massive survey camera that can scan huge chunks of the sky.
Its field of view is 300 times wider than Hubble's but keeps the same sharp detail from ultraviolet to infrared light.
Basically, it can see way more without missing any details.
What makes it exciting for science
With its advanced tools, Xuntian will help scientists get clearer images of exoplanets and dig deeper into cosmic mysteries like dark energy and dark matter.
It'll also boost research into the study of galaxies, the Milky Way, stars and planets.
In short: it's set to level up our understanding of the universe.