Building the future of astronomy: China’s astronomical infrastructure and the next 10-year roadmap

Abstract

China’s astronomical community and observing infrastructure have expanded substantially over the past two decades. Following a 2023 strategic roadmap that identified high-cadence multiband all-sky monitoring, ultra-deep observations, and space-based astronomy as priority directions, this paper reviews major astronomical facilities led or operated by the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC). The facilities are grouped into three stages. Those already in operation include the Large Sky Area Multi Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST), the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), Einstein Probe (EP), and the Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM). These facilities support large spectroscopic surveys, sensitive radio observations, wide-field high-energy monitoring, and rapid transient follow-up. Facilities under construction include the Chinese Space-station Survey Telescope (CSST), Hongmeng/Discovering the Sky at the Longest Wavelengths (DSL), the Solar Polar-orbit Observatory (SPO), the Northeast Radio Dish (NRD/Redstone), the Fourteen-Point-Five-Meter Optical–Infrared Telescope (FORT), the FAST Core Array, and the Global Open Transient Telescope Array (GOTTA). Longer term projects, including the Extremely Large Spectroscopic Survey Telescope (ESST) and Tianlin, aim to advance faint-object spectroscopy and the direct characterization of nearby rocky exoplanets. We also discuss artificial intelligence and the proposed Astronomical Technology Alliance as cross-cutting elements of future facility development. A purpose of this review is to promote wider astronomical collaboration. The teams welcome collaboration with researchers, observatories, universities, and industry worldwide.