1. Basic information
Wenchang Space Launch Site is located in Wenchang City, Hainan Province. The specific coordinates are 19°19′0.18″ north latitude and 109°48′0.15″ east longitude. It was formerly a test base for China’s suborbital rocket launches. It was later approved by the State Council and the Central Military Commission to build China’s first coastal launch base. The Wenchang Space Launch Site covers an area of 16,437 acres and has a coastline of 4.1 kilometers. It includes a launch area, a technical area, a test collaboration area, a technical service support system, etc. It is mainly used to launch China’s new generation of large non-toxic and non-polluting launch vehicles, and undertakes space launch missions such as geosynchronous orbit satellites, large-mass polar orbit satellites, large-tonnage space stations and deep space exploration spacecraft. The launch site officially started construction on September 14, 2009, and was basically completed in mid-October 2014. In 2016, the Long March 7 and Long March 5 carrier rockets made their first flights at the Wenchang Space Launch Site. Since the Wenchang Space Launch Site is at a low latitude, only 19 degrees from the equator, the centrifugal force caused by the earth’s rotation can allow the rocket to carry more payload. Wenchang Space Launch Site is currently managed by Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
2. Launch station
(1) Already built
There are 2 work stations that have been built, namely:
(1) Station 101: used to launch the Long March 5 and Long March 5B carrier rockets;
(2) Station 201: used for launching Long March 7, Long March 7A, Long March 7A improved version, and Long March 8 carrier rockets;
(2) Not yet completed
Station 301: Located to the west of Station 101, it is used to launch the Long March 10 carrier rocket.
3. Launch site advantages
1. Low latitude: Low latitude and close to the equator. When launching satellites, the centrifugal force generated by inertia can be used to the maximum extent to allow the rocket to carry more payload. At the same time, when launching a geosynchronous orbit satellite, due to the small angle, the fuel required for maneuvering the satellite to the geosynchronous orbit is reduced, which can also extend the satellite’s life.
2. Safety in the landing area: When the new generation launch vehicle performs its mission at the Wenchang launch site, the flight area and landing area have good safety. The 1,000-kilometer range is the ocean, and falling debris is less likely to cause accidents, which is conducive to the development of reusable rockets.
3. Large shooting range: Since there are no safety issues in the landing area and navigation area when launching satellites in coastal areas, the shooting range can be widened to about 80 degrees to 190 degrees.
4. Convenient transportation: For other launch sites, the diameter of the rocket is limited by the culverts of railway bridges, but the Wenchang Space Launch Site is close to the sea, which solves the problem of rocket transportation and is conducive to the development of large-thrust and large-diameter rockets. High-thrust rockets are also a key step for my country to move from a “space power” to a “space power”.
