On May 26, 2026, Galaxy Power announced that the Pallas series rocket launch station (Phase I) located in the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Test Area of \u200b\u200bthe Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center was officially completed and put into use. At this point, our country has ushered in the fourth private and commercial rocket company with a self-built launch station. This not only means that my country has another physical infrastructure that supports the high-quality and efficient development of the commercial aerospace industry, but also means that the development pattern of my country’s commercial rocket industry has ushered in new changes.<\/p>\n
Today, when high-frequency launches have become an inevitable trend in aerospace development, the importance of the launch station has made a qualitative leap. It is no longer just a “support facility” for rocket launches, but has been upgraded to a “core production bottleneck and efficiency engine.” No matter how advanced a rocket is and how strong its reusability is, it must take off through the launch station, and the same launch station can only serve one rocket at the same time. Therefore, the theoretical maximum number of launches per year for a single launch station directly determines the upper limit of the total launch frequency of all rockets launched from that station. Adding the carrying capacity of a single-engine rocket basically determines the total amount of payload that our country can send into space every year. Therefore, owning work stations not only means greater autonomy and scheduling flexibility, but is also an important way for Rocket Company to strengthen its market competitiveness. For rocket companies that do not have dedicated launch stations, they can only share launch station resources with other rocket companies and wait in line for the launch window. In this process, once an external mission is ultimately delayed due to various reasons, it may cause the rocket company’s annual launch plan to be disrupted. Having a dedicated launch station means that the rocket company has certain control over its own launch rhythm. In today’s pursuit of high-density launches, this kind of control is very important. In addition, with a dedicated launch station, companies can continuously optimize the launch station and simplify the preparations before each launch, thereby increasing the launch mission turnover rate. Moreover, building the launch station, operating the supporting team for the launch station, and maintaining the facilities related to the launch station are all fixed costs. If rapid turnover can be achieved, these costs can be diluted and the price of a single launch can be reduced. Moreover, as the process is optimized, the equipment transportation, personnel deployment, and site safety inspections involved before each launch may be reduced, thus reducing these “soft” expenses. As these costs are reduced, the company’s launch service price may be reduced, and the competitiveness of obtaining orders may be stronger.<\/p>\n
Up to now, five commercial rocket companies in my country have completed the construction of exclusive launch stations, namely: Blue Arrow Aerospace, Tianbing Technology, China Aerospace, China Commercial Rocketry, and Galaxy Power.<\/p>\n
The first private company to build a liquid rocket launch station was Blue Arrow Aerospace. It built two liquid stations: LC-96A and LC-96B in the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Test Area of \u200b\u200bthe Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. LC-96A was built for the Suzaku-2 series. Construction began in September 2020, using the “three-level” model. Blue Arrow Aerospace also built many support facilities here, including horizontal assembly plants, liquid oxygen and methane storage tanks and filling facilities. LC-96B was built for Zhuque 3. On June 20, 2025, Blue Arrow Aerospace conducted the first-stage power system test of Zhuque 3 here. From October 18 to 20, Blue Arrow Aerospace conducted the fueling and joint training and static ignition test of Zhuque 3 here. On December 3, 2025, the Zhuque-3 Yaoyi carrier rocket was launched from here.<\/p>\n
In July 2025, Tianbing Technology passed the completion acceptance of the dedicated launch station built for Tianlong 3 in the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Test Area of \u200b\u200bJiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The station was designed in accordance with “three flat and one vertical” (horizontal assembly, horizontal testing, horizontal transfer, vertical launch). It also built a front-end equipment room, a liquid oxygen\/kerosene storage area, a liquid nitrogen\/helium gas source storage area, a test factory, a power and fire protection joint station, etc. On April 3, 2026, the rocket experienced flight abnormalities shortly after it was ignited and took off. It eventually disintegrated in the air and failed on its first flight.<\/p>\n
In October 2025, China Aerospace completed the construction of a dedicated launch station for Lijian 2 in the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Test Area of \u200b\u200bthe Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, including erecting launch equipment, launch pads, diversion troughs, mobile environmental protection devices, filling and air supply systems, full rocket support transport vehicles, gantry cranes, etc. At 19:00 on March 30, 2026, Lijian-2 took off here, successfully sending the New Journey 01 satellite, the New Journey 02 satellite, and the Tianshi Satellite 01 satellite into the predetermined orbit.<\/p>\n
In addition, China Commercial Rocket Company, a “national team” commercial rocket company, has also built its own launch station in the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Test Zone. Construction of the station will start in April 2025. It adopts the design of three-level unsupported stations and vertical water towers to reduce construction costs and shorten turnaround time. It supports the completion of a launch process within 7 days at the fastest, and has the ability to fill multiple propellants such as liquid oxygen, kerosene, and methane. In December 2025, the station was officially completed and used to launch the Long March 12 series launch vehicle.<\/p>\n
Judging from the companies that have built dedicated launch stations, they all have a common feature, which is that they have complete rocket launch records (whether solid or liquid) before building their own launch stations. This may also be one of the factors used by the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to evaluate whether rocket companies have the ability and qualifications to build their own launch stations in Jiuquan. From this point of view, the domestic rockets have been put into orbit, but the only companies that have not built their own launch stations at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center are Interstellar Glory and Oriental Space. In fact, Interstellar Glory originally had the opportunity to build its own station in Jiuquan. When LC-96A was being built, it was not the exclusive station for Suzaku 2. There was also the matter of Interstellar Glory. However, due to the failure of the rocket launch at that time, the company’s development suffered a major setback, and it eventually became the exclusive launch station of Blue Arrow Aerospace. However, judging from the current development trend, Interstellar Glory’s current strategic plan is mainly to focus on Wenchang. It not only invested in the construction of a launch vehicle assembly, test and reuse factory in Wenchang, but also invested in the construction of the “Interstellar Return” recovery ship as an offshore platform for the recovery of Hyperbolic 3 launch vehicles. Therefore, if possible, Interstellar Glory would definitely prefer to build its own work station in Wenchang. Oriental Space has currently fired two arrows, but they were both fired in Haiyang, and the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center provided guarantees.<\/p>\n
Therefore, after the completion of the Galaxy Power station, my country’s launch pattern will probably be like this in the short term of one or two years, because the construction of the station also has a time cycle. In the long term, the country will definitely carry out special coordination for commercial launch stations in the future. Whether it is the stations built by the company in Jiuquan, the stations of Hainan Commercial Development, or the rumored new ones, there will definitely be a big coordination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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