Long March 5B | Xuntian Telescope

Provider: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

Vehicle: Long March 5B

Launch Date: 2027

Launch Site: 101

Target Orbit: LEO

Orbital Compute Tier: Insufficient data

Xuntian, formerly known as the Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST), is a Chinese space telescope designed to perform high-resolution, large-area, multi-band imaging and slit-less spectroscopy surveys of the sky at ultraviolet to infrared wavelengths of 255 – 1000 nm. The survey camera is slated to cover approximately 17500 square degrees of the sky in various bands, reaching maximum magnitudes of about 26. Xuntian will carry a survey camera, a tera-hertz receiver, a multi-channel imager, an integral field spectrograph, and a cool planet imaging coronagraph. Xuntian will be launched to a Low Earth Orbit that will be co-orbiting with the Tiangong space station/Chinese Space Station, which will allow for periodic docking with the station for regular maintenance by astronauts.