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Article: China’s FAST is world’s only giant, single-dish radio telescope after Arecibo collapse

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5 / 10

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China's Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) is now the world's only giant, single-dish radio telescope following the collapse of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. While FAST is larger and more sensitive, Arecibo possessed unique capabilities, such as transmitting signals to study solar system objects and track near-Earth asteroids.

FAST became fully operational in early 2020 and is expected to become available for use by foreign scientists in 2021. The article notes that the Chinese operator of the telescope did not provide an immediate comment on its current status.

The main topics covered are the status of the world's major radio telescopes, the comparative capabilities of FAST and Arecibo, and the planned international access to FAST.

Original URL

https://www.scmp.com/tech/science-research/article/3112416/chinas-fast-worlds-only-giant-single-dish-radio-telescope?utm_source=rss_feed

Source Feed

Science & Research - South China Morning Post

Published Date

2020-12-03 11:30

Fetched Date

2026-03-04 14:31

Processed Date

2026-03-04 15:15

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Present

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Raw Extracted Content

China’s FAST is world’s only giant, single-dish radio telescope after Arecibo collapse
- The 305-metre Puerto Rico telescope, opened in 1963, was the world’s largest, single-aperture radio telescope for 53 years until 2016
- China’s FAST, which became fully operational in January this year, is expected to open to foreign scientists in 2021
The 305-metre Puerto Rico telescope, opened in 1963, was the world’s largest, single-aperture radio telescope for 53 years until 2016, when China installed FAST in southwestern Guizhou province.
“For observation within the solar system, Arecibo was able to transmit signals and receive their reflections from planets, a function that FAST isn’t able to complete on its own. The feature allowed Arecibo to facilitate monitoring of near-Earth asteroids, which is important in defending the Earth from space threats,” said Liu Boyang, a researcher in radio astronomy at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, University of Western Australia.
The operator of FAST, the National Astronomical Observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the Post on the current status of the telescope.