Contacting aliens could take up to 400,000 years according to a new report from space experts.
A Nasa-led team of international scientists last month said it plans to beam messages to the distant stars via radio waves in an attempt to reach extra-terrestrial life forms.
The group of scientists and various other professionals are unlikely to get a response in their lifetime however, claim researchers at Beijing Normal University.
Actually hearing back from intelligent life forms who understand the message could in fact be hundreds of thousands of years in the making.
At best we are looking at 2,000 years, scientists estimate in a new report.
Study authors Wenjie Song and He Gao wrote: "As the only advanced intelligent civilisation on the Earth, one of the most puzzling questions for humans is whether our existence is unique.
"The reason why we have not received a signal may be that the communication lifetime of human is not long enough at present."
Their research takes into account how many terrestrial planets are habitable and how often life on these planets evolve into Communicating Extraterrestrial Intelligent Civilisations (CETI), as well as the stage of a host star's evolution.
The report published in The Astrophysical Journal continues: "If the Doomsday argument is correct, for some pessimistic situations, humans may not receive any signals from other CETIs before extinction.
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"It is also possible that no two CETIs in the Milky Way could ever communicate with each other."
The proposed Beacon in the Galaxy (BITG) message is understood to be an updated version of the famous Arecibo message broadcast to space in 1974.
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Super-genius Professor Stephen Hawking warned before his death that humans ought to be cautious regarding communicating with extra-terrestrials as they may want to destroy us.
He said: "If you look at history, contact between humans and less intelligent organisms have often been disastrous from their point of view, and encounters between civilisations with advanced versus primitive technologies have gone badly for the less advanced."
Jamilah Hah is involved in the BITG project and believes the benefits of contacting aliens are greater than the risks, "as long as contact is approached with a clear sign of peace".
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