The Tianma Radio Telescope is a major collaborative project between Shanghai Municipality, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Lunar Exploration Program. It was completed in 2012 and ranks among the top three in comprehensive performance among radio telescopes of its kind worldwide.

The Tianma Telescope meets the application requirements of disciplines and major projects such as astrophysics, astrometry, and deep space exploration. In recent years, aiming at the forefront of global science and technology, it has actively participated in various international joint observation programs. It has become a key station in networks like the European VLBI Network and the East Asian VLBI Network, significantly enhancing observation sensitivity and making important contributions to the world's first black hole imaging flux calibration and multi-band observations. At the same time, the Tianma Telescope has successfully conducted spectral line, pulsar, and VLBI astrophysical observation research, achieving a series of significant results. As a primary station, the Tianma Telescope has played a crucial role in China's lunar and deep space exploration efforts. It has successfully completed VLBI orbit determination tasks for the Chang'e-3, Chang'e-4, Chang'e-5, Chang'e-6, Chang'e-7, Queqiao-2, and Tianwen-1 missions, making key contributions to the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, lunar sample return, sample return from the lunar south pole, and China's first Mars exploration.

The Tianma Telescope has been recognized as one of China's Top Ten Scientific Advances in 2012, ranked first in Shanghai's Top Ten Scientific Advances in 2012, and received the Special Prize of the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award in 2018, among other honors. It is a national landmark facility.