Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Jul 20, 2025

China starts work on first commercial space launch site for 2024 delivery

China starts work on first commercial space launch site for 2024 delivery

Nascent sector likely to make each launch ‘really expensive’, and sharing launch pads would require firms to standardise technologies, source predicts
Work to build China’s first commercial space launch site has begun in the southern island province of Hainan.

Two launch pads will be ready for regular commercial use by 2024, offering more flexible, convenient launch services to space start-ups in the country, Chinese media reports earlier said.

Representatives from private companies including Landspace, iSpace, and Deep Blue Aerospace were present at the groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday.

China currently has four major satellite launch centres spread across the country, all state-owned and operated by the military.

The commercial centre comes amid a rapid growth in Chinese space activity in recent years. In 2021, China sent a total of 55 rockets into orbit, more than any other nation.

Building “commercial launch pads and launch sites to meet different commercial needs” is a priority for the next five years, according to a white paper on space activities released in January by the State Council – China’s cabinet.

However, nearly 90 per cent of the Chinese launches were government-backed, and carried out by its Long March rockets, whereas more than half of the US launches came from the private sector.

“The commercial space launch sector is still nascent in China, and there is already an oversupply of launch pads in China and in the world,” an April 2019 article in the Chinese journal Satellite & Network said.

The feature article questioned the need for China to build a commercial launch centre soon, citing challenges from technical readiness to the business model.

The private sector has also voiced doubts about the upcoming commercial site.

“I don’t think those pads are going to be cheap,” said a source who works for a commercial launch start-up based in Beijing.

“I’m not sure how many commercial launches will be planned each year, but that is likely to be a small number, so each launch is going to be really expensive,” he said.

Sharing one or two launch pads would also mean companies must standardise their technologies, said the source, who declined to be named.

The new site is jointly funded by the Hainan provincial government and three state-owned giants – the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, and China Satellite Network Group Corporation.

It will be built next to the Wenchang space launch site, the newest and southernmost among the four state-owned spaceports. The others are the northern Jiuquan launch site in Inner Mongolia, Xichang in southwestern Sichuan province and Taiyuan in central Shanxi province.

The Wenchang site area is designed as a multifunctional space centre, according to the latest issue of Chinese National Geography magazine. Apart from the commercial launch site, the facility will feature a rocket recovery site and specialised pads for Long March rocket families 5, 7, and 8.

There will also be a launch pad reserved for manned missions to the moon, as well as a rocket assembly building, test facilities, and so on.

The biggest advantage of launching rockets from Wenchang lies in its low latitude, only 19 degrees north of the equator. This means rockets get a remarkable speed boost from the Earth’s rotation, thus saving a lot of fuel.

China also has plans to build commercial launch centres in Ningbo in Zhejiang and Haiyan in Shandong, both eastern provinces.

Private companies such as Landspace and CAS Space have also set up their own assembly facilities and launch pads at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
×