CHINA / SOCIETY By Fan Anqi Published: Feb 04, 2021 06:20 PM
The deep space antenna array system at a ground station in Kashi, Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Photo: Xi an Satellite Control Center
The China-developed 70-meter diameter reflector antenna, the largest in Asia, completed acceptance checks on Thursday and is ready to be put to use for the country’s first Mars mission, Tianwen-1, which is approaching the Red Planet and is expected to enter its gravity soon.
The antenna, specifically designed for the Mars exploration project, is tasked with receiving data from Tianwen-1 some 400 million kilometers away from Earth, playing a crucial role in the mission, experts noted.