Founded in 1957, the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (XAO) of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has developed from a
single-satellite observatory into an important and comprehensive
astronomical research organization in the past few decades. With its
headquarters located in the regional capital of Urumqi, XAO also has
three sites in Nanshan, Kashgar and Qitai, and two other independent
ground stations.
