The Chinese Academy of Sciences is working with the Gran Telescopio Canarias on a highly advanced optical device designed to detect Earth-like planets, a project that could lead to China formally joining the telescope as an international partner.
The Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, is moving towards a new phase of international scientific cooperation with China. The collaboration, already in place for around a decade, could culminate in the Chinese Academy of Sciences becoming an official international partner of the world-class telescope facility.
The potential partnership centres on the development of a new, highly complex scientific instrument designed to improve the detection and study of Earth-like planets beyond the Solar System. The device, which is being developed in China, is expected to cost more than €20 million and would be installed at the GTC once completed.
Romano Corradi, director of the Gran Telescopio Canarias, explained in an interview with Radio Nacional de España that relations between the GTC and the Chinese Academy of Sciences are already well established.
According to Corradi, both institutions have been engaged in scientific cooperation for approximately ten years, and the relationship between them is “excellent”. Chinese researchers already have temporary access to observation time at the telescope and, he noted, are producing a high level of scientific output based on data gathered from the Roque de los Muchachos facility.
A possible new international partner
The Chinese Academy of Sciences has expressed interest in taking a further step by joining the GTC as an international partner. If formalised, China would follow a model similar to that already used by Mexico and the University of Florida, which participate in the telescope through international collaboration agreements.
The key contribution from China would be the new scientific instrument now under development. Corradi described it as a device of “great complexity”, with an investment exceeding €20 million. Once installed, it would significantly strengthen the telescope’s capacity for advanced exoplanet research.
The project is being developed in two phases. The first part is expected to be delivered between 2027 and 2028, while the second phase is scheduled for completion between 2029 and 2030.
Searching for another Earth
The new optical instrument will be used to search for and characterise planets similar in size to Earth, particularly those located in habitable zones around stars similar to the Sun. These are the regions where conditions could, in principle, allow liquid water to exist on the surface of a planet, making them especially important in the search for potentially habitable worlds.
Corradi explained that astronomy has already made significant progress in detecting large gas giants orbiting close to their stars. These planets are comparatively easier to identify because their size and proximity to their host stars produce clearer observational signals.
Finding Earth-sized planets, however, is far more difficult. Such planets are smaller, their signals are weaker, and the level of precision required to detect and study them is much higher. The new instrument being developed for the GTC is intended to meet that challenge.
At present, Corradi noted, there is only one instrument with comparable capabilities, installed on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. If completed as planned, the new device for the Gran Telescopio Canarias would become the first of its kind in the northern hemisphere.
La Palma as a hub for global astronomy
The development would further consolidate the role of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory as one of the world’s most important centres for astronomical research. The GTC, already one of the most powerful optical-infrared telescopes in operation, has long been a key international scientific asset for Spain and the Canary Islands.
The possible incorporation of China as a partner would also reinforce the strategic value of the GTC as a platform for international scientific diplomacy. Corradi recalled that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez recently visited a Gran Telescopio Canarias exhibition stand during his official trip to China, underlining the telescope’s growing role as a showcase for scientific cooperation between Spain and China.
For the GTC, the agreement would mean access to a cutting-edge instrument capable of opening new lines of research in the study of exoplanets. For China, it would provide a formal route into one of the most important astronomical facilities in the northern hemisphere.
If the project advances as expected, La Palma could soon host a unique scientific instrument designed to help answer one of astronomy’s most compelling questions: whether there are other worlds similar to Earth orbiting stars beyond our own Solar System.
