On September 21, the construction of the fully steerable 110-m aperture radio telescope, also known as the QiTai radio Telescope (QTT), kicked off in Qitai County of China's northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The goal of the QTT project is to construct a 110-m aperture fully steerable radio telescope with superior performance and highly reliable operating states that combines highly efficient observation parameters with internationally advanced criteria. It will be built by Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (XAO) of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), over a period of six years.

With its high sensitivity and unprecedented diameter, QTT will be able to survey three-quarters of the sky, including the centre of the Galaxy and south of the galactic centre.

It is expected that QTT will make significant contributions to scientific investigations in several science frontiers, such as the discovery of more fast radio bursts, and the research of the dark matters, black holes, gravitational waves, celestial bodies and the origins of life in the universe.

As a major national science and technology infrastructure in astronomy, QTT will also provide strong technical support for the country's deep space exploration.