The port city of Ningbo in Zhejiang province is building a 20 billion yuan ($3.05 billion) rocket launch site to meet surging demand for putting satellites into orbit and further develop the industrial cluster of the commercial aerospace sector, according to the local authorities.

Highlighted in the recently revealed draft for mega projects in Zhejiang during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), the launch center will come up in Xiangshan county of the coastal city and will be able to put 100 satellites in orbit every year upon completion.

The Xiangshan center, located 30 degrees north of the equator, is suitable for launching satellites, thanks to its convenient transportation and an advantageous environment. It is scheduled to be spread over 67 square kilometers, including a 35-sq-km launch site and a 32-sqkm space industrial base.

The launch site will consist of a commercial space launch site, assembly and test center, docking center, command and control center, while the industrial base will include a rocket satellite research and development and manufacturing base and satellite data application industrial base.

The Ningbo municipal government signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology in December last year to jointly build the center at Xiangshan's Ningbo Aerospace Science and Technology Town.

During the recent two sessions in Beijing, Dou Xiaoyu, vice-president of China Aerospace Construction Group and a National People's Congress deputy, said the aerospace launch sector in the country will see a boom in the next five to 10 years and it is necessary to set up a launch center exclusively for commercial satellites.

China has three inland rocket launch centers in Gansu province's Jiuquan, Shanxi province's Taiyuan, Sichuan province's Xichang as well as a coastal rocket launch center in Hainan province's Wenchang.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Related Links
China National Space Agency
The Chinese Space Program - News, Policy and Technology
China News from SinoDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

China advances space cooperation in 2020: blue book
Beijing (XNA) Mar 11, 2021
China actively promoted international space cooperation in 2020, offering satellite exports and launches, cooperative research and application services to the world, according to a recent report on China's aerospace industry. By the end of last year, 51 Chinese rockets had launched 59 foreign commercial satellites into space, said the 2020 Blue Book of China Aerospace Science and Technology. In January and November, China's Long March rockets took 12 commercial remote sensing satellites deve ... read more