After being in construction for almost five years, China finally started operating the world's largest radio telescope on Sunday in Guizhou province. The gigantic telescope, which demonstrates China's growing space ambition, has been designed to search for signs of extraterrestrial life in our complex universe.

Like Us on Facebook

The telescope started operation around noon, Xinhua reported. Hundreds of astronomers and space enthusiasts witnessed the launch.

Officially called Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), the telescope has been named after its huge dimension, which is almost equal to 30 football pitches. An estimated 1.2 billion Yuan ($180 million) has been spent for the project, with thousands of workers and several engineers participating in the construction.

The project led to the relocation of nearly 10,000 residents earlier this year, which was carried out as a precautionary measure to save them from harmful radiations.

China's scientific community is upbeat about the success of FAST. It is expected to place China as a global leader in deep space radio telescope research.

"FAST's potential to discover an alien civilization will be five to 10 times that of current equipment, as it can see farther and darker plants," Peng Bo, a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories (NAO) told Xinhua.

Over the years, China has been aggressively pursuing its space program with the aim of making the country a "space superpower."

Earlier this month, China launched the Tiangong 2, its second space station and the latest effort in its military-backed program that intends to send a mission to the red planet in the coming years.  This was followed by the launch of China's first quantum satellite in August.

China also aims to a man on the Moon by 2036 and construct a manned space station by 2022.   

TagsChina Telescope, FAST, Five hundred meter aperture spherical telescope, China space program