World's first electromagnet driven super speed experiment facility enters operation at E China's Shandong. Photo: CCTV

The world's first ground-based electromagnet-driven super-speed experimental facility in the Jinan Innovation Zone, East China's Shandong Province has started operation, China Media Group reported on Thursday. 

The facility can accelerate objects weighing one ton or more to 1,030 kilometers per hour, a record in high-quality, ultra-high-speed electromagnetic propulsion technology.

The experimental facility was constructed in phases in cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the governments of Shandong Province and its capital city Ji'nan, and represents a breakthrough in multiple core technologies that reach a world-class level.

The facility is available for use by domestic enterprises and research intuitions to conduct testing, supporting China's fast development of equipment with heavy weights and super speeds. 

Before the electromagnet-driven experimental facility was completed, China's aerodynamic tests for super-speed objects were conducted by a rocket propulsion-driven facility. 

An experiment in Central China's Hubei Province conducted a speed test that reached nearly Mach 2.3 in April 2022, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

The research and development of ultra-high-speed ground and air vehicles has to address issues such as aerodynamics, high-strength advanced materials and the operation of sensors in super-speed conditions. The electromagnet-driven facility can provide solutions to those problems with its advantages in strong pushing power, sensitive reaction and precision control.

The program's first phase of construction started in October 2019, and it has cost 3.3 billion yuan ($456.72 million). The overall floor area is 455 mu (30.33 hectares) and the building area is 247,000 square meters, according to the official website of the Jinan Innovation Zone.

The program was on the 2021 priority projects list of Ji'nan. A total of 300 projects were on the list, and the overall investment volume reached 1.6 trillion yuan.

Global Times