Qinghai Province, northwest China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Aerial shots of mountain, construction site
2. Animation of coaxial laser ranging telescope
3. Various of telescope under construction, scientists
4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Li Haibo, head, Nanjing Astronomical Instruments Co., Ltd, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ending with shot 5):
"The telescope can measure the position, photometry and color of celestial bodies, as well as their distances to Earth, allowing for comprehensive multi-dimensional measurement."
5. Various of equipment, scientists
6. Various of telescope under construction, scientists
7. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Li Fan, senior engineer, Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences (partially overlaid with shot 8):
"Using the telescope, we can send a laser beam to the Moon or an artificial satellite. The laser will be reflected off by the laser reflector on the target celestial body and received by the telescope. Then, by measuring the time for transmission and reception, we can calculate the distance between Earth and the celestial body."
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8. Telescope under construction
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9. Animation of telescope working

China's largest coaxial laser ranging telescope started construction on Saturday in northwest China's Qinghai Province, aiming to measure distances between Earth and various celestial bodies.

The 2.5-meter multi-terminal general-purpose telescope, once completed, will serve major national strategic needs such as Earth-Moon space security and spacecraft monitoring.

The telescope is designed for precision measurements and features multiple functions, making it suitable for a wide range of observational requirements.

"The telescope can measure the position, photometry and color of celestial bodies, as well as their distances to Earth, allowing for comprehensive multi-dimensional measurement," said Li Haibo, head of Nanjing Astronomical Instruments Co., Ltd under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The primary scientific goal of this telescope is to carry out multi-band and multi-type precise measurements of natural and artificial celestial bodies in the solar system.

"Using the telescope, we can send a laser beam to the Moon or an artificial satellite. The laser will be reflected off by the laser reflector on the target celestial body and received by the telescope. Then, by measuring the time for transmission and reception, we can calculate the distance between Earth and the celestial body," said Li Fan, senior engineer at the Nanjing-based Purple Mountain Observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

On the same day, a 4.2-meter telescope, which represents China's first single-mirror astronomical telescope with an aperture exceeding 4 meters, also started construction.