China has started the construction of two-phase Ngari wave observatory in Ngari territory of Tibet close to Indian border, which will house world’s highest altitude Gravitational Wave Telescope. The main aim of this project is to find more about the Big Bang theory which is about the birth and configuration of the cosmos. About Phase 1 of the project consists of a telescope located at 5250m above sea level and expected to be operational by 2021. It will be able to detect and gather data on gravitational waves in northern hemisphere. Phase 2 consists of series of telescopes to be constructed at 6000m above sea level and will expand the observation frequency band to improve accuracy. Ngari is one of the world’s best spot because of high altitude, clear skies and minimum human activity

1. Gravitational wave
telescope: NGARI
China’s first fully owned
satellite ground station

2. Gravitational wave telescope: NGARI
China has started the construction of two-phase Ngari wave observatory in Ngari territory of Tibet close to
Indian border, which will house world’s highest altitude Gravitational Wave Telescope.
The main aim of this project is to find more about the Big Bang theory which is about the birth and
configuration of the cosmos.
 About
Phase 1 of the project consists of a telescope located at 5250m above sea level and expected to be
operational by 2021.
It will be able to detect and gather data on gravitational waves in northern hemisphere.
Phase 2 consists of series of telescopes to be constructed at 6000m above sea level and will expand the
observation frequency band to improve accuracy.
Ngari is one of the world’s best spot because of high altitude, clear skies and minimum human activity

3.  Prelims facts
Gravitational waves are ripples in the curvature of space-time that propagate as waves at the speed of
light, generated in certain gravitational interactions that propagate outward from their source.
Predicted in 1916 by Albert Einstein on the basis of his theory of general relativity, gravitational waves
transport energy as gravitational radiation, a form of radiant energy similar to electromagnetic radiation.
Gravitational waves cannot exist in the Newton's law of universal gravitation, since that law is predicated
on the assumption that physical interactions propagate at infinite speed.
On February 11, 2016, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration teams announced that
they had made the first observation of gravitational waves, originating from a pair of merging black holes
using the Advanced LIGO detectors.
On June 15, 2016, a second detection of gravitational waves from coalescing black holes was announced.
Besides LIGO, many other gravitational-wave observatories (detectors) are under construction.

4. China’s first fully owned satellite
ground station
China has launched its first fully- owned overseas satellite ground
station in Sweden which will enable China to collect satellite data at
a very high speed than its current capability.
 About
This would play an important role in China's Gaofen project - a
network of observation satellites orbiting the Earth to provide
global surveillance capabilities - which is due to be completed in
2020.
This project would halve the time taken to download the satellite data
from present scenario.

5. Prelims facts
Gaofen Project is an ambitious space project of
China that aims to launch seven high-definition
observation satellites before 2020.
It will also support Beidou project which is a
navigation project to give a domestic positioning
system of China as an alternative to GPS.