China’s scientific facilities—the EAST artificial sun and the FAST radio telescope—have reached significant operational milestones, highlighted by the 20th anniversary of the magnetic confinement fusion experiment and the decade-long celestial survey of the 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope.
Two Decades of Plasma Physics on the EAST Tokamak
The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, recognized as the world’s first fully superconducting non-circular cross-section tokamak nuclear fusion experimental device, marked twenty years since its historic first plasma discharge on September 28, 2006. Built by Chinese researchers, that initial test yielded an electrical current of 200 kiloamperes with a high-temperature plasma duration nearing three seconds. Over two decades of experimental operations directed toward fusion energy frontiers, the machine has completed more than 160,000 plasma runs. These milestones fulfilled the project’s original design scientific objectives, accumulating over 200 core technologies and upwards of 2,000 patents.
The Compact Fusion Energy Experimental Device Rises
As EAST marks its twentieth operational year, construction on its successor—the Compact Fusion Energy Experimental Device, known as BEST—advances toward completion. Ahead of National Day celebrations, the project park officially opened for use, bringing the assembly of the fusion device host machine into the critical “four-ring assembly” phase. Designed to simulate nuclear reactions inside the sun to harvest clean energy, the facility targets overall construction completion by the end of 2027. Project planners aim to perform deuterium-tritium fusion power generation demonstrations around 2030 to test the commercial viability of controlled nuclear fusion.
Decade of Deep Space Exploration with the Five-Hundred-Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope
Simultaneously, the Five-Hundred-Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope, or FAST, marked ten years since its formal inauguration in Guizhou Province on September 25, 2016. To mark the anniversary, the Pingtang County academic exchange meeting hosted discussions detailing achievements in engineering technology, fundamental science, and practical applications. Technological innovations in measurement and control methods, domestic high-performance steel wire ropes, and advanced receivers have secured stable operations for the 500-meter aperture instrument.
Expanding Horizons with the FAST Phase II Project
Scientific output from the observation platform includes major findings in pulsar research, neutral hydrogen galaxies, fast radio bursts, and gravitational waves. The facility also serves national strategic security needs through ground-space target detection, pulsar time benchmarks, and asteroid defense initiatives. Looking to the future, FAST Run and Development Center Director and Chief Engineer Jiang Peng disclosed that the team is actively advancing the Phase II project. Engineers will construct 64 antennas of 40-meter diameter surrounding the central dish, creating a unique giant comprehensive aperture array designed to multiply FAST’s resolution by two hundredfold and further enhance its observation sensitivity.
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