Kunlun Station
Chinese research station in eastern Antarctica
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It is located at 4087 m above sea level on the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, making it the highest base in Antarctica. It is only 7.3 km southwest of Dome A, the highest point on the Antarctic Plateau. The station was officially opened on January 27, 2009. Fully constructed, the station is planned to cover an area of 558 m2. The main building, covering 236 m2, is planned to be erected in April 2009.
The site is one of the coldest in the world, with temperatures occasionally reaching −80 °C (−112 °F) in the winter. It is indicated from satellite measurements that places nearby could reach a world record −90 °C (−130 °F) temperature.
In April 2012 the first of three Antarctica Schmidt telescopes (AST3) was installed at Kunlun Station. The other two were planned for installation in 2013 and 2014. A bigger optical telescope, Kunlun Dark Universe Survey Telescope (KDUST), was planned to be installed by 2025, but due to budget constraints the plans were scrapped. A much smaller terahertz telescope, Antarctic Terahertz Explorer (ATE60), was built instead and is currently in operation.