China Pushes Back Telescope Launch To 2012
China is delaying the launch of its first space telescope from 2010 to 2012 due to increased demands for funding.
China’s Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) is intended to be used to study black holes in space.
Xinhua news agency reported that China would be pushing its launch date back by two years due to financial issues.
The telescope is under development with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Science and Tsinghua University, Li Tipei, an academic with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the chief scientist of the program, told the news source.
The overall cost of the project was intended to be 1 billion yuan ($146.4 million) as scheduled for 2010, but Li did not give further details on future cost for the delayed mission.
China also has plans to land a vehicle on the surface of the moon during 2012.
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