China is likely to launch its first ever space telescope around 2011 as part of efforts to improve the country's capacity in astronomical sciences, it was revealed on Monday.

The mission, highlighted with a Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope, will be a milestone step in China's universe exploration project, says Su Dingqiang, an astronomer from Nanjing University, Nanjing Daily reports.

The space telescope won't be affected by unstable air condition which usually hampers ground observatories, he added.

According to the astronomer, China's first space telescope mission will mainly focus on high-energy celestial bodies, universal radiation as well as black holes.

The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) is an X-ray (20-200 keV) telescope with the highest sensitivity and spatial resolution power in the world.

China has made great efforts since 2000 to develop HXMT technology. So far, all the key technical difficulties of the Phase A study of the HXMT mission have been overcome, according to the homepage of China's HXMT team.