Construction on project-related infrastructure, which will include a research building, ultra-quiet cave laboratory, and observation center, began in March 2016.

This name refers to the metaphorical concept of gravitational waves "plucking the strings" by causing fluctuations in the 100,000 kilometer laser beams stretching between each of the three TianQin spacecraft.

The observatory will consist of three identical drag-free controlled spacecraft in high Earth orbits at an altitude of about 100,000 km.

Similar configuration of geocentric orbit space-borne gravitational wave detectors have been developed since 2011,[9][10] and was shown to have favorable properties for observing intermediate-mass and massive black-hole binaries.

[11] The detection rate for massive black hole binaries is expected to be as high as about 60 per year,[12] and TianQin would have accurate estimate to the source's parameters,[13] which enable the potential for distinguishing the seed models for massive black holes, as well as issuing early warning for nearby mergers.