China is preparing a new space telescope to rival James Webb

China is taking major steps in cosmic exploration, developing a space telescope that could rival the performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The new instrument, called CSST (China Space Station Telescope) or Xuntian ("looking at the sky"), will be launched in 2026 and will have the ability to be repaired and upgraded in space, a significant advantage over other orbital telescopes, Live Science reports.

• Next-generation device

CSST will join other state-of-the-art scientific instruments, such as the European Space Agency's Euclid Space Telescope, NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which is due to be inaugurated on Earth this summer. The Chinese telescope will have a primary mirror with a diameter of 2 meters, smaller than that of the Hubble Space Telescope, but its advanced optical systems will allow it to have a field of view 300 times larger than that of Hubble. It will be able to observe the sky in the spectrum from near-ultraviolet to near-infrared, which will provide it with a wide range of scientific applications.

• Exploring dark matter and energy

One of the main objectives of the CSST will be to measure the phenomenon of weak gravitational lensing, study cosmic voids and galaxy clusters. Such research will contribute to the understanding of dark matter, a mysterious element that makes up most of the mass in the Universe but cannot be observed directly. At the same time, the telescope will analyze the accelerated expansion of the Universe by studying dark energy. It will map hundreds of thousands of galaxies, search for supernovae and measure baryonic acoustic oscillations, information essential for understanding cosmic evolution from the Big Bang to the present.

What differentiates CSST from other space telescopes is the fact that it will be placed in an orbit close to the Chinese space station Tiangong. This will allow Chinese astronauts to perform maintenance interventions and replace or upgrade the telescope's components, extending its operating life and maintaining it at the highest technological standards. Through this initiative, China consolidates its position in the field of space exploration and becomes an important player in deciphering the great mysteries of the Universe.