How China is working to turn Saishiteng Mountain into the world’s largest astronomy base

How China is working to turn Saishiteng Mountain into the world’s largest astronomy baseTelescopes at the remote site are set to surpass Hawaii’s Mauna Kea in light-gathering power by the mid-2030s, scientists say2-MIN READ2-MIN9ListenPublished: 10:00pm, 6 Jun 2026Construction on the Tibetan plateau of some of the Earth’s most powerful optical telescopes is putting China on track to house the world’s biggest astronomy base by the mid-2030s, according to project scientists.Deng Licai, lead scientist for site planning at the China" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="141540" data-entity-type="organization">National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) in Beijing, said the telescopes at Saishiteng Mountain in northwestern Qinghai province would stretch between 6.5 metres (21.3 feet) and 14.5 metres across, and partner with dozens of smaller instruments.“Their collective light-gathering power is expected to surpass [that of the telescopes] on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea peak,” he said on Wednesday.Select VoiceSelect Speed0.8x0.9x1.0x1.1x1.2x1.5x1.75x00:0000:001.00x