The “Chinese Twin Eye” Project, also known as Fuyan, will create a network of radar antennas to receive radio signals from distant objects for the purpose of photographing and tracking asteroids that may pose a threat to Earth.
The Twin Eye project will include more than 100 radars. (Photo: Beijing Institute of Technology).
The construction of phase two of the Chinese Planetary Defense Radar Network is currently underway, according to Space on February 19. Phase one, which includes four 16-meter diameter radars located near Chongqing in southwest China, was completed last December. Scientists subsequently received signals from the Moon to test the feasibility of the system and its key technologies. Phase two will add 25 radar antennas, each with a diameter of 30 meters, expected to be completed by 2025.
“Once the construction of phase two is completed, we will be able to observe asteroids with diameters of just a few dozen meters at a distance of 10 million kilometers, including their structure, speed, and changes in their orbits after being impacted. Researchers will be able to observe these targets in phase two under certain conditions,” said Zeng Tao, deputy director of the Radar Technology Research Institute at the Beijing Institute of Technology.
Phase three will commence to expand Fuyan’s detection range to 150 million kilometers. The project employs multiple small networks to simulate a large aperture structure, allowing the detection of objects in deep space.
Unlike the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in Guizhou Province, the Twin Eye project operates similarly to the echolocation used by bats, utilizing electromagnetic waves and capturing echoes. Many radars combine to function as a large antenna, akin to the compound eyes of insects. While the observation range of a single radar is limited, combining multiple radars makes it feasible to detect objects over a super-wide range.
The FAST telescope receives radio signals from targets thousands of light-years away, but the Twin Eye system can image asteroids approaching Earth without interference from light or clouds. This system will serve as a surveillance camera, helping to detect objects that threaten satellites or space stations in time to avoid or destroy them.
In April of last year, the China National Space Administration announced plans for planetary defense, which includes monitoring near-Earth objects and conducting experimental asteroid deflection tests similar to NASA’s DART mission in the coming years.
