Korea, China, Japan, and Thailand Jointly Operate World-Class Space Radio Telescope

EAVN Space Radio Observatory Network (Photo by Nature Astronomy)

South Korea, Japan, China, and Thailand have agreed to jointly operate a world-class space radio telescope network.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's National Geographic Information Institute announced on the 19th that it signed a memorandum of understanding on joint operation and technical cooperation of the East Asian VLBI Network (EAVN) with seven institutions from three East Asian countries: Japan, China, and Thailand.

VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) is a technology that simultaneously receives radio waves emitted from quasars located billions of light-years away using two or more space radio telescopes, then measures and analyzes them for use in geodesy, astronomy, and geophysics research.

EAVN connects 22 space radio telescopes spanning approximately 10,000 km, including South Korea's National Geographic Information Institute and Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, China's Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, and Urumqi Astronomical Observatory, Japan's National Astronomical Observatory, and Thailand's National Astronomical Research Institute.

This network has performance comparable to the world's top space radio observation networks such as the United States' VLBA (Very Long Baseline Array) and Europe's EVN (European VLBI Network).

Through this agreement, domestic and international researchers can conveniently use the National Geographic Information Institute's space radio telescopes free of charge. It is expected to be widely utilized in fields such as space probe tracking, geodesy, and astronomy with radio telescopes that have world-class precision and sensitivity.

Applications to use the space radio telescopes can be submitted by downloading the observation proposal form from the EAVN website, filling it out, and submitting it. Final approval will be notified after review by the EAVN steering committee.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport stated, "This is expected to improve accessibility to space radio observation networks, which had been limited to the United States and Europe, for researchers in East Asia including South Korea," and added, "We plan to expand support for private research to enhance geodetic infrastructure and data utilization."