The 40-meter radio telescope, is located at Phoenix Mountain, eastern suburbs of Kunming. Construction began in August 2005, and the telescope was put into operation in May 2006. 

The 40-meter radio telescope is a turntable-type Cassegrain antenna with a total weight of approximately 360 tons. The primary reflector is 40 meters in diameter and consists of 464 aluminum alloy solid panels and stainless steel mesh panels. The central portion (within a diameter of 26 meters) comprises 208 solid panels, while the outer portion (from 26 to 40 meters in diameter) comprises 256 mesh panels. The backup structure of the primary reflector is formed by a regular hexagonal center-body space frame structure together with radial beams and ring beams. The 40-meter antenna employs a rear-fed Cassegrain focus configuration with a focal length of 13.2 meters. The 4.2-meter-diameter hyperbolic secondary reflector is supported by four support struts arranged symmetrically at 45° to the elevation axis.

The 40-meter radio telescope operates in the S/X bands, with a pointing accuracy of 30 arcseconds and a maximum slew rate of 1°/s in azimuth and 0.5°/s in elevation.

From October 2007 to March 2009, the 40-meter radio telescope successfully completed the Chang'e-1 mission. Since October 2010, it has been carrying out the Chang'e-2 mission.

The 40-meter telescope is equipped with a world-class VLBI terminal and has successfully participated in joint observations with the EVN (European VLBI Network), CVN (Chinese VLBI Network), and IVS (International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry), achieving excellent results and attracting the attention of international VLBI organizations. In 2010, the EVN specially presented us with a set of VLBI terminals.

Located in southern China, the 40-meter telescope enjoys a unique geographical advantage for observing southern celestial objects. We have therefore been committed to astronomical observation and research. In 2008, we used the VLBI terminal to carry out pulsar observations and obtained profiles of 9 pulsars. Since 2011, we have been observing with a dedicated pulsar terminal and have obtained average profiles of more than 90 pulsars, detecting faint pulsars down to 1 mJy, and have initially established a pulsar timing measurement system.