Chinese project in Chongqing uses integrated radars to observe asteroids, the Moon, and other celestial bodies at great distances, in a structure compared to the compound eyes of insects and linked to planetary defense efforts against near-Earth objects.
China is developing in Chongqing, in the southwest of the country, a space observation facility known as China Compound Eye, or China Fuyan, aimed at monitoring asteroids, the Moon, and other celestial bodies.
The initiative uses a network of distributed radars, instead of a single telescope, to form images and measure distant objects through the emission of radio signals and the analysis of the return of these signals.
According to the state agency Xinhua, the structure is led by the Chongqing Innovation Center, linked to the Beijing Institute of Technology, and integrates Chinese planetary defense efforts against near-Earth asteroids.
This type of monitoring depends on data about orbit, distance, shape, and movement of the observed objects, information used in trajectory studies and evaluations related to bodies approaching the planet.
How the China Compound Eye works
The China Compound Eye operates as an active deep space radar, emitting radio waves towards a target and recording the signal reflected after contact with the observed object.
From this return, the system can estimate physical and dynamic characteristics of bodies that do not emit their own light or detectable radiation sufficiently by passive astronomical instruments.
This operation differentiates the project from radio telescopes like FAST, also built in China, which capture signals coming from stars and other astronomical objects without emitting pulses towards the targets.
In the case of the radar installed in Chongqing, the signals are sent into space and analyzed after the return, a procedure used in observations of objects such as asteroids, planetary surfaces, and lunar regions.
The term “compound eye” is linked to the network configuration of the project, formed by several radars working in a coordinated manner to expand the area and capacity of observation.
Long Teng, an academic of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of the Beijing Institute of Technology, compared the set to the compound eyes of insects, formed by multiple vision units.
Second phase plans 25 radars in Chongqing
The second phase of the project began in February 2023 and includes the construction of 25 high-resolution radars, each with an aperture of 30 meters, in an area of more than 300 mu, equivalent to about 20 hectares.
According to information released by Chinese state media, the completion of this phase is scheduled for 2025, as part of the expansion of the observation system’s capacity in Chongqing.
When operating in an integrated manner, these antennas function as parts of a larger instrument, combining the signals collected by different units to enhance the sensitivity of the measurements.
The combination of radars allows tracking distant objects with more data than isolated equipment, provided that the integration, calibration, and processing stages operate according to the technical plan.
Before the expansion, the first phase was completed in December 2022, with four radars of 16 meters in diameter used to verify the feasibility of the technology.
This phase produced a three-dimensional image of lunar craters obtained by ground-based radar, a result presented by Chinese sources as an initial demonstration of the system’s capability.
Planned range reaches 150 million kilometers
In the final configuration announced by Chinese state sources, the third phase is expected to increase the set to more than 100 radars, expanding the network’s scale compared to previous stages.
The expectation released by Xinhua and Chinese media is that the system will be able to observe asteroids within a range of up to 150 million kilometers from Earth, a distance equivalent to the scale of one astronomical unit.
In addition to supporting the identification of potential threats, the installation is expected to provide data for planetary science research and studies on the impacts of near-Earth asteroids.
According to the China Daily, the measurements made by the system may contribute to assessing the trajectory, rotation, composition, and orbital changes of celestial bodies under certain observation conditions.
Small asteroids may be more difficult to identify in advance because many reflect little light and do not emit detectable signals by passive radio telescopes.
For this reason, active radars are used as a complement to optical observations, especially when there is a need to reduce uncertainties in orbital calculations and distance measurements.
Planetary science and asteroid defense
In addition to planetary defense, the China Compound Eye is expected to contribute to studies on the Moon, rocky planets, and other bodies in the Solar System, according to the project’s disclosed purposes.
Radar images can capture relief, surface structure, and other physical details that do not always appear the same way in optical observations, especially under limited lighting conditions.
The construction is also part of the expansion of Chinese terrestrial infrastructure aimed at deep space observation, an area that supports scientific missions, astronomical studies, and systems for tracking near-Earth objects.
By operating from the ground, the radar network can produce continuous measurements of selected targets without relying on the launch of a specific spacecraft for each planned observation.
China maintains space programs with lunar missions, interplanetary probes, and its own orbital station, and the Chongqing radar adds a terrestrial structure to this set of initiatives.
In this configuration, the project brings together communication engineering, astronomy, and signal processing to transform radio returns into data about bodies moving at great distances from Earth.
Although the facility is presented as a scientific and planetary defense initiative, the publicly available information focuses on construction stages, technical objectives, and initial results.
So far, there is no broad and independent public confirmation of the full operational performance of the final configuration with more than 100 radars.
The advancement of China Fuyan shows that part of deep space observation can also occur through fixed ground structures, formed by integrated antennas and radar measurement systems.
Instead of functioning as a conventional optical telescope, the system uses radio echoes to generate measurable data about celestial bodies located millions of kilometers from Earth.
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