China formally launches project to build aircraft carrier-sized ‘science island’

China’s massive maritime science infrastructure – an aircraft carrier-sized floating artificial island – has officially entered its engineering construction phase. On October 18, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), the facility’s lead developer, signed a construction contract worth over 2.7 billion yuan (US$405 million) with a shipbuilder under China State Shipbuilding Corporation, according to local media reports. The semi-submersible twin-hull platform is the world’s first mobile,...