The Chinese Academy of Sciences has revealed plans to study gravitational waves. Researchers are ready to join the European Space Agency's eLISA project or, in case of refusal, to implement their own project.
According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the research group will complete a plan to prepare a project for studying gravitational waves by the end of this year, after which it will be submitted for approval to regulators. The project will include two alternative plans for the development of events. According to the first, China wants to take a 20 percent share in ESA research - the eLISA project. We are talking about the LISA Pathfinder gravity telescope, launched into space in December 2015 into orbit at a distance of 1.5 million km from the Earth, at the Lagrange point L1. It is assumed that the gravitational-wave detectors of the gravitational telescope will begin work in the coming days.
The second part of the Chinese plan is to launch its own satellites by 2033 to study gravitational waves. If this part of the plan is implemented, Chinese scientists have already announced that the country "will get a chance to become a world leader in gravitational wave research."
“If we participate only in the ESA project, this will significantly increase the research potential in the field of space science in China, master advanced space technologies in the preparation of satellites,” added the physicist, member of the CAS Hu Wenzhui. According to the vice-president of the academy, Wu Yuelyang, currently operating ground-based observatories are able to capture only high-frequency gravitational wave signals, while space observatories will help to find low-frequency signals.
Alexander Kornev