According to its top manager, China’s first launch complex devoted to supporting commercial space activities is expected to launch its maiden mission in the upcoming fall.
In an exclusive interview with China Daily on Tuesday, Yang Tianliang, the chairman of the Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Center in Wenchang, Hainan province, stated that, if all goes as planned, the center’s inaugural launch will occur in September or October.
“This is because we need time to carry out all-system rehearsals to prepare our staff for the first launch and spot possible problems. So far, most of the rehearsal tasks have been accomplished. We will make some small changes to related procedures based on the results of the rehearsals,” he said.
Early in June, the second of the initial two launch towers’ construction was finished. The first tower’s construction was completed in late December.
Yang said that after the rocket is brought to the facility, workers at the complex will practice using a genuine carrier rocket in the upcoming weeks. This rocket will be used for the debut flight.
He did not specify the kind of rocket that would be used in the upcoming mission, but sources from the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, one of the two main rocket manufacturers in the nation and a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, have stated that it will be a Long March 12, and that the mission will also be the model’s first flight.
The Long March 12 is the newest member of the Long March family and the first Chinese rocket, according to its designers, with a diameter of 3.8 meters, which is larger than the 3.35 meters found on the majority of Chinese rockets. There are two stages to it, totaling over 60 meters in height.
Driven by six liquid oxygen and kerosene-fueled engines, the rocket will be able to carry six tons of satellites to a standard sun-synchronous orbit at a height of 700 kilometers, or spacecraft totaling at least 10 metric tons to a low-Earth orbit.
Yang stated that the results of the restoration efforts following the initial launch will determine whether or not additional launch missions are conducted before the year ends. “In 2025, we plan to conduct the first launch of any privately built rocket at our center. We will also strive to make our facilities ready for more missions that will come next year,” he said.
The Hainan province government, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, China Aerospace Science and IndustryCorp, and China Satellite Network Group are the three State-owned space conglomerates that jointly own Yang’s Center.
China Aerospace Construction Group was in charge of the construction, which got underway in July 2022.
The special duty of maintaining Long March 8 carrier rockets falls to the No. 1 launch tower. The No. 2 tower can service over ten different kinds of liquid-propellant carrier rockets, including versions created by commercial firms as well as members of the Long March family.
When the complex is operational, it will be China’s fifth ground-based launch complex and its first specifically designed to support commercial space missions.
The central government is in charge of the Wenchang Space Launch Center, the other launch complex in Hainan, and its main function is to support State initiatives. Three other comparable centers may be found in China: Xichang in Sichuan province, Taiyuan in Shanxi province, and Jiuquan in Gansu province.