On September 29, 2025, China unveiled a groundbreaking leap in experimental science with the launch of the world’s largest and most powerful centrifuge, marking a milestone not just for the nation but for global research. The Centrifugal Hypergravity and Interdisciplinary Experiment Facility—known as CHIEF—now stands in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, as a testament to the possibilities of simulating extreme environments right here on Earth, according to Xinhua and ECNS.
The centerpiece of this new facility is the CHIEF1300 centrifuge, a mammoth machine engineered to generate a force up to 300 times stronger than Earth’s gravity, and capable of handling loads as heavy as 20 tonnes. As reported by News.Az and Anadolu Agency, this centrifuge is now the largest of its kind by capacity anywhere in the world. Two additional centrifuges—each promising even greater capabilities—are currently under construction, ensuring that CHIEF’s supergravity arsenal will only grow stronger in the coming years.
But what does it mean to create gravity hundreds or even thousands of times greater than what we experience every day? Hypergravity, as scientists call it, refers to any gravitational force that exceeds what we feel at the planet’s surface. For context, a roller-coaster thrill-seeker might experience twice the force of gravity for a fleeting moment, and astronauts during rocket launch endure around five times gravity. CHIEF, on the other hand, is designed to sustain accelerations of up to 1,500G, according to its designers at Zhejiang University, the institution leading this ambitious project.
“In a hypergravity field, researchers can simulate real-world hydrogeological catastrophes, geological evolution and extreme environments in bench-top scale models within a reasonable timeframe,” explained Chen Yunmin, chief scientist of the facility and an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as cited by ECNS and Xinhua. This ability to compress both space and time is revolutionary. At 100G, for example, a one-meter model can stand in for a real-world event happening on a 100-meter scale. A process that might naturally unfold over a century—such as the migration of a contaminant plume underground—can be observed in just 3.65 days within the lab.
The technical marvel of CHIEF1300 is hard to overstate. Housed in a 230-square-meter circular basement, the centrifuge boasts a giant arm with a 6.4-meter radius that spins at dizzying speeds to generate its colossal gravitational pull. The machine is set below ground level and equipped with advanced vacuum and wall-cooling systems, which are essential for mitigating the heat and air resistance generated at such extreme velocities, according to chief engineer Ling Daosheng (Xinhua).
CHIEF is not just a single machine, but a sprawling complex. The facility comprises three main centrifuge units and 18 onboard systems, all organized within six specialized laboratories. These labs are tailored for research in fields as diverse as slopes and high dams, geotechnical earthquake engineering, and deep-sea engineering. The possibilities for scientific inquiry are vast, with CHIEF opening new frontiers in deep-ocean and deep-Earth resource extraction, disaster mitigation and prevention, underground waste disposal, and the synthesis of new materials (News.Az, ECNS).
The scale and ambition of CHIEF are matched by its early accomplishments. Even before the official launch, pilot tests at the facility had already yielded significant results. Researchers simulated strong earthquakes to verify the seismic performance of a hydropower dam foundation—a crucial step for ensuring the safety of major infrastructure in earthquake-prone regions. They also modeled the impact of 4-meter-high waves and 20-meter tsunamis on seabeds, offering vital insights for selecting safe sites for offshore wind farms, as reported by Anadolu Agency and Xinhua.
In another set of experiments, CHIEF recreated the crushing pressure found 2,000 meters below the ocean’s surface. This allowed scientists to evaluate the safety and feasibility of extracting methane hydrate—a potential energy source—from deep-sea deposits. The facility also proved its worth in materials science, enabling the synthesis of metal alloys with fewer defects and enhanced strength and ductility. These advances could have far-reaching implications not only for energy and infrastructure, but also for manufacturing and engineering.
What makes CHIEF truly unique is its ability to simulate natural disasters, geological changes, and other extreme environments on a much smaller scale and within much shorter timeframes than would be possible in the real world. “CHIEF acts like a space-time compressor,” Chen Yunmin noted, capturing the spirit of ingenuity that drives the project. This compression effect is more than just a scientific curiosity—it’s a powerful tool for accelerating discovery and innovation across multiple disciplines.
CHIEF’s design reflects a commitment to collaboration and openness. “The facility will operate as an open, shared hub for frontier science, and [we] look forward to teaming up with the world's top research groups to accelerate discovery and spark innovation,” Chen said. This approach positions CHIEF not only as a national asset for China, but as a global resource for researchers seeking to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity.
The launch of CHIEF1300 comes amid a broader push by China to invest in cutting-edge scientific infrastructure. Led by Zhejiang University, the project brings together expertise from engineering, geology, oceanography, and materials science, creating a multidisciplinary platform that few other facilities worldwide can match. With two even larger centrifuges currently being built, the facility’s capacity for simulating and studying the forces that shape our planet—and potentially others—will only increase.
For those outside the scientific community, the scale of CHIEF’s achievement might be hard to grasp. Yet its impact could soon be felt in tangible ways, from safer dams and more resilient coastal infrastructure, to new materials that power the next generation of technology. As the world grapples with the realities of climate change, resource scarcity, and natural disasters, the ability to study and prepare for extreme events in the controlled environment of CHIEF could prove invaluable.
As the dust settles in Hangzhou and the centrifuge spins into its next test, one thing is clear: CHIEF is poised to become a driving force in the future of experimental science, offering a window into worlds of gravity and time that, until now, were far beyond our reach.
