China has claimed a decisive new lead in experimental physics with the commissioning of the world’s most powerful hypergravity centrifuge. Known as CHIEF1900, the machine has surpassed both its Chinese predecessor and a long-standing American benchmark, signalling a shift in global research capability.
The achievement places China at the forefront of a highly specialised field that underpins critical research into infrastructure safety, environmental resilience, and extreme physical forces. By dramatically expanding the limits of artificial gravity, the new centrifuge offers scientists a tool capable of replicating conditions that would otherwise take years or vast real-world structures to study.
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From US Dominance to a Chinese Leap
For nearly 30 years, the title of the world’s most powerful centrifuge belonged to the United States. The machine at the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi, set the standard with a capacity of 1,200 gravity tonnes (g-tonnes). That record finally fell in September 2025 when China brought the CHIEF1300 online.
Just a few months later, they surpassed their own feat. In December 2025, China commissioned an even more formidable machine: the CHIEF1900. Immediately, it became the most powerful hypergravity centrifuge ever built, extending the Asian nation’s lead and redefining the upper limits of artificial gravity research.
What Is a Hypergravity Centrifuge?
Hypergravity centrifuges are designed to generate gravitational forces far greater than those experienced on Earth. By spinning test platforms at extremely high speeds, they create artificial gravity that can reach thousands of times normal levels.
These machines have long been used by organisations such as NASA and the European Space Agency to study everything from earthquake behaviour to the effects of high gravity on living organisms. They complement other facilities that simulate low gravity, such as those used to prepare for space missions.
Compressing Space and Time Explained
Claims that hypergravity machines can compress space and time can sound like science fiction, but the reality is more practical. Researchers often build small scale models of massive structures such as dams, foundations or seabeds.
Under high gravity, these models experience forces equivalent to those acting on their real-world counterparts.
China on Monday launched the world’s largest centrifuge in terms of capacity, capable of generating 300 times Earth’s gravity for a load up to 20 tonnes.
The machine, coded CHIEF1300, is one of the core components of the Centrifugal Hypergravity and Interdisciplinary Experiment… pic.twitter.com/3ljFrx334o— China Science (@ChinaScience) September 29, 2025
Increased gravity also accelerates slow physical processes. Soil settling, erosion, and water flow that would normally take years can be observed over days or weeks.
In this way, hypergravity centrifuges allow scientists to compress the timescale and physical scale of complex natural phenomena.
How Powerful Is CHIEF1900?
The strength of large centrifuges is measured in g-tonnes, a unit that combines gravitational force and load capacity. For comparison, a household washing machine generates roughly 2 g·tonnes during its fastest spin cycle.
The former US record holder reached 1,200 g-tonnes, while China’s CHIEF1300 pushed that to 1,300. The CHIEF1900 goes further still, delivering up to 1,900 g-tonnes of force.
This leap allows experiments that were previously impossible or impractical.
Where It Is Located and What It Is Used For
Both the CHIEF1300 and CHIEF1900 are housed at the CHIEF facility at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. Construction began in 2019, and the complex sits 49 feet underground to reduce vibrations during operation.
Although the CHIEF1900 is newly installed, its predecessor has already supported major studies. Researchers have examined how dam foundations absorb seismic energy, tested seabed stability under extreme waves, and recreated pressures found 2,000 metres below the ocean surface.
Originally published on IBTimes UK
