China plans to launch Hubble-like space telescope

China plans to launch an independent optical facility, which will function like the Hubble Space Telescope, along with the construction of a space station in the coming years, scientists say.
The field of view of the optical cabin will be 300 times as large as that of the Hubble, and the cabin will be connected with the space station, said Gu Yidong, technology consultant of China's manned space flight project and academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), built by the NASA and the European Space Agency, orbits just outside the Earth's atmosphere, taking extremely high-resolution images of deep space. It was launched in 1990.

"Currently, China has planned a series of scientific research platforms and facilities for the space station. The optical cabin is the biggest confirmed project so far," Yidong said.
The calibre of the telescope is about two metres, and its resolution is near that of the Hubble. The optical cabin will conduct heterochromatic photometry and slitless spectroscopy sky surveys, the 'People's Daily' reported.
According to Yidong, the cabin will stay in orbit with the space station, and will connect to the station when it needs maintenance or upgrades.
China's space station is expected to be completed in 2020.