Meridian II: Global Shield Against Solar Storms
During the session, the national validation of the Meridian Phase II Project was announced in March 2025. This terrestrial network of space weather monitoring is the most comprehensive in the world, covering radars, magnetometers, and solar spectrometers. The goal is to anticipate solar eruptions threatening satellites and astronauts. It involves international integration to create a “global net” of monitoring, aligned with manned lunar missions and the International Lunar Research Station. This strategic shift moves from isolated research to collaborations, managing them throughout their lifecycle, for ultra-precise real-time alerts.
Improvements on FAST, the Giant Radio Telescope
FAST (“Eye of the Sky” of 500m in Guizhou) is the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world, located in Pingtang, China. Built between 2011 and 2020 for 180 million dollars, it revolutionized radio astronomy with its 4,450 aluminum panels controlled by actuators, forming a real-time deformable active parabolic dish, a world first. It is a zone of absolute radio silence (9,000 displaced residents, electronics prohibited within a 5km radius). Open to foreign researchers since 2021, it makes China number one in radio astronomy and alien research.
During the session, the creation of a “Core Array” was announced: 40 40m antennas for an angular resolution increasing from 3′ to 15”, allowing for even more precise data reception.
Scientific Advances Planned for JUNO
JUNO (Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory) is an ultra-sensitive Chinese underground laboratory buried 700m underground in Jiangmen, Guangdong to block cosmic rays. Launched in 2015, operational in 2024, its mission is to measure neutrino oscillations (an invisible super light particle that passes through everything). JUNO provides unprecedented precision in determining and studying neutrinos, leading to more precise measurements than scientists in China and Japan. JUNO plans a major hardware upgrade of its main detector after its initial phase (2024-2030), scheduled around 2030+ for a new scientific mission.
Lunar Ambitions and Technological Excellence
Space infrastructure must align with national grand projects: lunar missions, space particle manipulation, next-gen observatories. For particle physics, the focus is on “post-infrastructure excellence.” The Five-Year Plan emphasizes accelerated and optimized construction, transforming China into a global leader. These advancements, shared during the APN and CCPC sessions, illustrate a unified scientific ecosystem, poised to challenge Western giants in deep space.
