China has just finished the construction of what will be the largest radio telescope in the world. The news was announced by the state media. This is a project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The FAST telescope (Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope) have the incredible sizes of about 30 football fields. This impressive machine is located in a mountain in the southwestern parts of China, Guizhou province. 
According to Zheng Xiaonian, the deputy head of the National Astronomical Observation, the telescope will help for the search of extraterrestrial life and revealing the origin of the Universe.  

This huge radio telescope will be a worldwide leader for the next 10-20 years. It will possibly ensure China a leading role in the cosmic researches. And it might even make amazing discoveries just as the Chinese scientists hope.
The new telescope is expected to start functioning in September. Its construction took five years but it has now almost come to an end.

China's Space Program 

China has the clear ambitions of becoming one of the leaders in researching space. The President Xi Jinping stated that this is a major goal of the country. 

The telescope observations are only one part of the cosmic ambitions of China. Bringing a man to the Moon by year 2036 is another one. The accomplishment of another cosmic goal - building a space station, has already begun.
What Will the Powerful Telescope be Used for?

The powerful telescope will have the following intriguing functions and goals:
•Survey the presence of neutral hydrogen in numerous distant galaxies and discover faint pulsars. These are powerfully magnetised balls made of neutrons. By now, more than 2,000 of such pulsars have been found in space.
•Increase the chances of detecting gravitational waves with a low frequency
•Improve the chances of finding and contacting extraterrestrial life
The science lovers are enthusiastic since the telescope will start to function in September and will help the search for extraterrestrial life. Still, the scientists do not expect immediate major discoveries from FAST. The work of the telescope will need adjustments in the next 2-3 years. 

International Access

At first, the telescope will be used for early-stage research by local scientists in China. Then, it will become available for the needs of researchers from other countries.

This new powerful telescope has a much greater size than the one of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. This machine was previously considered to be the largest in the world. Its size is about 300 meters in diameter.

For the normal work of the telescope, radio silence within a five-kilometer radius around it will have to be ensured. That is why more than 9,000 Chinese citizens will have to leave the area around the telescope. They will have to be resettled in other nearby counties. This has to happen before the official starting of the work of the telescope in September.
China officially states that its scientific programme is only for peaceful purposes.