PLATO is a fully-robotic observatory designed for operation inAntarctica. It generates its own electricity (about 1 kW), heat(sufficient to keep two 10-foot shipping containers comfortably above0°C when the outside temperature is at -70°C), andconnects to the internet using the Iridium satellite system (providing~30 MB/day of data transfer). Following a successful first year ofoperation at Dome A during 2008, PLATO was upgraded withnew instruments for 2009.

In January 2005, members of a Chinese expedition team were the firsthumans to visit Dome A on the Antarctic plateau, a sitepredicted to be one of the very best astronomical sites on earth.
In 2006, the Chinese Center for Antarctic Astronomy (CCAA) was foundedto promote the development of astronomy in Antarctica, especially atDome A. CCAA has since taken part in two traverses to Dome A, organizedby the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC), in the australsummers of 2007/2008 and 2008/2009. These traverses resulted in theinstallation of many site-testing and science instruments, supportedby the PLATO observatory. The Chinese Small Telescope ARray (CSTAR)has produced excellent results from Dome A.
Our future plans include further site-testing work, and the followingfull-scale science instruments: three 0.5-m Antarctic SchmidtTelescopes (AST3), and a proposed 4-m telescope for wide-fieldinfrared high spatial-resolution surveys. The first AST3 telescope isunder construction and is scheduled for installation in 2011.