National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Name

National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Legal name

National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Website

https://english.nao.cas.cn

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Astronomical Research and Observatory Operations

NAICS

Space Research and Technology (927110), Space Research and Technology (927), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)

SIC

Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827), Guided Missiles & Space Vehicles & Parts (3760), X-Ray Apparatus & Tubes & Related Irradiation Apparatus (3844)

akta.pro primary industry

Space Payloads & Instruments (Sensors, Comms, EO/IR) (IMABACAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Remote Sensing & Geospatial Vision (satellite/drone imagery) (HDAAAEAL), International Science, Technology & Space Cooperation Organizations (BPADAAAK), Satellite Imagery & Remote Sensing Geospatial Platforms (BPAMANAM)

Keywords

• Astronomical research services
• Radio telescope facilities
• Space science missions
• Cosmological surveys
• Lunar exploration data

Headquarters

HQ city

Beijing

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices11 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: NAOC is a public research institution under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, funded primarily through government appropriations for scientific research and facility operations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

NAOC operates a portfolio of major national astronomical facilities and conducts observational astronomy research across optical, radio, solar, and space-based domains. Its core assets include FAST (the world's largest single-dish radio telescope), LAMOST (the world's highest spectral acquisition rate telescope), the Einstein Probe X-ray space mission, the SVOM Chinese Science Center for gamma-ray bursts, the China Lunar Exploration Program Ground Application System, and a GPU super-cluster computing facility. The institution provides telescope access to the international scientific community through proposal-based programs and participates in flagship collaborations including SKA, DESI, and East Asian Observatory networks.

Product overview

The National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) operates a portfolio of major national astronomical facilities rather than a traditional software product. The core offerings include: FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope), the world's largest single-dish radio telescope for pulsar searching, hydrogen surveys, and SETI; LAMOST (Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope), the Guoshoujing Telescope with the world's highest spectral acquisition rate; the Einstein Probe space mission for X-ray transient detection; and participation in the China Lunar Exploration Program. Supporting infrastructure includes GPU super-cluster computing (280 teraflops) and the SCI-indexed RAA journal. NAOC also collaborates on international projects including the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), DESI, and operates the CAS South America Center for Astronomy (CASSACA) in Chile.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) World's largest single-dish radio telescope (500-meter diameter) located in Guizhou Province, China. Known as 'China Sky Eye', it provides wide sky-coverage and high-sensitivity observations for pulsar searching, neutral hydrogen surveys, VLBI networks, interstellar molecule detection, and SETI research for the international astronomy community.
• Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) Active reflecting Schmidt telescope (Guoshoujing Telescope) with 4.9-meter clear aperture, 5-degree field of view, up to 4,000 optical fibers, and 16 spectrographs with 32 CCD cameras. Achieves the highest spectral acquisition rate globally for large-scale galactic surveys and stellar parameter catalogues.
• Einstein Probe (EP) Space Mission Space science mission featuring the Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT) and Follow-up X-ray Telescope (FXT) for detecting X-ray transients, tidal disruption events, and other cosmic events. NAOC serves as the principal investigator institution and operates the EP Science Center.
• SVOM Chinese Science Center China Science Center of the SVOM (Space Variable Objects Monitor) mission, designed and run by NAOC for gamma-ray burst detection, monitoring, and follow-up observations.
• China Space Station Telescope (CSST) Space telescope operated by NAOC and planned for all-sky, deep, multi-band, high-cadence surveys supporting space astronomy research from the China Space Station.
• China Lunar Exploration Program Ground Application System One of the five core systems of China's Lunar Exploration Program. NAOC is responsible for receiving, storing, processing, and analyzing data transmitted by lunar exploration satellites in support of Chinese lunar and deep space missions.
• GPU Super-Cluster Computing Facility High-performance computing facility with 85 GPU nodes at a peak performance of up to 280 teraflops, used by NAOC researchers for large-scale astronomical data processing, survey analysis, and simulations.
• Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics (RAA) Journal SCI-catalogued scientific journal published by NAOC, featuring peer-reviewed research articles in astronomy and astrophysics for the global scientific community.

Quantifiable outcome

• 224 pulsars discovered by FAST as of September 2020
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and major.

• CAS South America Center for Astronomy (CASSACA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Also known as the China-Chile Joint Research Center for Astronomy (CCJCA), established in Santiago, Chile in 2013. Facilitates astronomical collaboration between China and South America.
• Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2001NAOC, Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO), and Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) form the three core observatories of CAS, coordinated through the Center for Astronomical Mega-Science (CAMS). CAMS establishes mechanisms for consensus on major facility construction, operations, and technology developments among these observatories.
• Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2001NAOC, Purple Mountain Observatory, and Shanghai Astronomical Observatory form the three core observatories of CAS, coordinated through the Center for Astronomical Mega-Science (CAMS) for sharing finances, human resources and technical expertise.
• Square Kilometre Array (SKA) International ProjectflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAOC is a member of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) international project together with 10 other countries. SKA is a global mega-science project to build the world's largest radio telescope.
• East Asian Core Observatories Association (EACOA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAOC is a member of EACOA along with other East Asian core observatories, promoting regional collaboration in astronomical research.
• East Asian Observatory (EAO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAOC participates in the East Asian Observatory, a regional astronomical collaboration platform.
• Chinese-French Origins International Associated LaboratorymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational collaboration laboratory focusing on origins research in astrophysics.
• International Space Environment Service Regional Warning Center of China (ISES-RWCC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional warning center for space environment monitoring and services.
• Antarctic Astronomy CollaborationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAOC participates in international collaboration for astronomical observation from Antarctica, including development of KL-DIMM instruments at Dome A.
• DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) CollaborationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal collaboration of over 70 research institutions and more than 900 scientists worldwide. NAOC has contributed over 90 observer-nights of telescope time and conducted research on dynamical dark energy, galaxy evolution, and changing-look active galactic nuclei.
• Einstein Probe Mission PartnersflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpace science mission led by CAS in collaboration with European Space Agency (ESA), Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), and French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES).
• Argentina Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) StationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAOC operates a South American station in Argentina for Satellite Laser Ranging project.
• China-Argentina 40m Radio TelescopemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUnder construction collaboration project between China and Argentina for radio astronomy observations.
• International Telescope Networks (GTC, SALT, VLT)majorTechnology or IntegrationFor the 14.5-meter Optical Infrared Telescope project, NAOC seeks collaboration with existing international telescopes and networks including Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), and Very Large Telescope (VLT) for potential joint observation programmes and data-sharing agreements.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Emerging players

• Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA): IIA operates Indian national optical/infrared facilities and is building the next-generation 3.6m Devasthal optical telescope — comparable to NAOC's LAMOST/optical roadmap and ambitions for the 14.5m telescope.
• Caltech / IPAC: IPAC operates NASA infrared and exoplanet missions (Spitzer, NEOWISE, Roman Science operations) and is a peer-level player in space astronomy data and archival science, overlapping with NAOC's CSST and Einstein Probe science centers.

Direct peers

• Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI): STScI runs science operations for Hubble and JWST and archives petabyte-scale datasets. NAOC's planned CSST operations and Einstein Probe science center play a structurally similar role in space astronomy data pipelines.
• Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR): MPIfR operates the Effelsberg 100m radio telescope and leads European radio astronomy R&D — directly comparable to FAST operationally and scientifically, and a partner in NAOC's VLBI work.
• European Southern Observatory (ESO): ESO operates the VLT, ALMA and is building the ELT — a comparable portfolio of large ground-based telescopes with international membership and proposal-based access, directly analogous to LAMOST and FAST access models.
• National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO / NSF): NRAO operates the Very Large Array and manages U.S. participation in ALMA — the Western counterpart for national-scale radio astronomy facilities comparable to FAST and to NAOC's involvement in SKA.
• CNRS-INSU / French National Astronomy Program: INSU coordinates French national observatories and is CNES's principal astronomy partner, mirroring NAOC's role inside CAS; it co-leads SVOM and works with NAOC on multiple bilateral programs.
• JAXA / Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS): JAXA/ISAS is Japan's national space science operator for astronomy and planetary missions (e.g. XRISM, Akari) — directly analogous to NAOC's combined ground-and-space astronomy mandate under CAS.

Broad incumbents

• Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO): SKAO is the next-generation global radio telescope consortium of which NAOC is a member — the most direct strategic counterpart for SKA-era radio astronomy and a key collaborator.
• NASA / NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: NASA is the closest analogue to NAOC as the operator of flagship space telescopes (Hubble, JWST) and a network of major observatories. NASA Goddard in particular runs the science operations for many astronomy missions comparable to NAOC's Einstein Probe and SVOM.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-astronomical-observatories-cas

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences