Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center
Encyclopedia
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People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
space and defence launch facility (spaceport
Spaceport
A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching spacecraft, by analogy with seaport for ships or airport for aircraft. The word spaceport, and even more so cosmodrome, has traditionally been used for sites capable of launching spacecraft into orbit around Earth or on interplanetary trajectories...
). It is situated in Kelan County
Kelan County
Kelan County is a county in Xinzhou Prefecture, Shanxi Province of China.Area: 1984 km2.Population: 80,000Postal Code: 036300Telephone Area Code: 0350The county government is located in Lanyi town....
, Xinzhou Prefecture, Shanxi Province and is the second of three launch sites having been founded in March 1966 and coming into full operation in 1968. Taiyuan sits at an altitude of 1500 meters and its dry weather makes it an ideal launch site. Confusingly, U.S. intelligence designates TSLC the 'Wuzhai Missile and Space Test Centre," despite the fact that the town of Wuzhai is located a considerable distance from the Taiyuan space launch facility.
The site is primarily used to launch meteorological satellites, earth resource satellites and scientific satellites on Long March
Long March rocket
A Long March rocket or Chang Zheng rocket as in Chinese pinyin is any rocket in a family of expendable launch systems operated by the People's Republic of China. Development and design falls under the auspices of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology...
launch vehicles into sun-synchronous orbit
Sun-synchronous orbit
A Sun-synchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit which combines altitude and inclination in such a way that an object on that orbit ascends or descends over any given point of the Earth's surface at the same local mean solar time. The surface illumination angle will be nearly the same every time...
s. TSLC is also a major launch site for ICBMs and overland Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) tests.
The site has a sophisticated Technical Center and Mission Command and Control Center. It is served by two feeder railways that connect with the Ningwu-Kelan Railway
Ningwu-Kelan Railway
Ningwu-Kelan Railway or Ningke Railway , is a single-track regional railroad in Shanxi Province of northern China between Ningwu and Kelan Counties. The line is long, and was built between 1967 and 1971 as a national defense railroad to support the building of the Third Front in China's...
.
Launch pads
- Launch Complex 1Taiyuan Launch Complex 1Launch Complex 1, also known as Pad 1, is a Long March launch complex at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre. It consists of a single launch pad, which has been used by Long March 2C, Long March 4A, Long March 4B and Long March 4C carrier rockets. Until the activation of Launch Complex 2 in 2008,...
: CZ-1DLong March 1DLong March 1D is the improved version of Long March 1 rocket stage for Chinese space agency craft, mainly for the thrustor of stage 1, from 1020 kilonewtons to 1101.2 kilonewtons, also improved the performance for stage 2 and stage 3. The improved Long March 1D can launch variant of LEO satellite;...
, CZ-2C/SDLong March 2CLong March 2C , or Chang Zheng 2C as in Chinese pinyin is a member of the Long March 2 rocket family, an expendable launch system operated by the People's Republic of China. This vehicle was developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and the first launch occurred on November 26,...
, CZ-4ALong March 4AThe Long March 4A , also known as the Chang Zheng 4A, CZ-4A and LM-4A, sometimes misidentified as the Long March 4 due to the lack of any such designated rocket, was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It was launched from Launch Complex 1 at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre. It was a 3-stage...
, CZ-4BLong March 4BThe Long March 4B , also known as the Chang Zheng 4B, CZ-4B and LM-4B is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. Launched from Launch Complex 1 at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, it is a 3-stage rocket, used mostly to place satellites into low Earth and sun synchronous orbits...
and CZ-4CLong March 4CThe Long March 4C, also known as the Chang Zheng 4C, CZ-4C and LM-4C, previously designated Long March 4B-II, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It is launched from the Jiuquan and Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centres, and consists of 3 stages...
vehicles.
- Launch Complex 2: CZ-4BLong March 4BThe Long March 4B , also known as the Chang Zheng 4B, CZ-4B and LM-4B is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. Launched from Launch Complex 1 at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, it is a 3-stage rocket, used mostly to place satellites into low Earth and sun synchronous orbits...
and CZ-4CLong March 4CThe Long March 4C, also known as the Chang Zheng 4C, CZ-4C and LM-4C, previously designated Long March 4B-II, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It is launched from the Jiuquan and Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centres, and consists of 3 stages...
. First use on 25 October 2008.
Recent launches
| Date | Vehicle | Payload | Outcome | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-09-06 | Long March 2C Long March 2C Long March 2C , or Chang Zheng 2C as in Chinese pinyin is a member of the Long March 2 rocket family, an expendable launch system operated by the People's Republic of China. This vehicle was developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and the first launch occurred on November 26,... |
Two Huanjing satellite Huanjing satellite China plans to launch eleven Huanjing satellites for disaster and environmental monitoring . The satellites will be capable of visible, infrared, multi-spectral and synthetic aperture radar imaging.... s |
Success |
Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center will launch a satellite coded as the 03 Group of the Shijian-6 serial research satellites sometime on 2008-10-24. The rocket carrier will be a Long March 4B, said the official, noting both the satellite and the rocket were in good condition and all the preparations for the launch had been completed.
See also
- Space program of China
- Jiuquan Satellite Launch CenterJiuquan Satellite Launch CenterJiuquan Satellite Launch Center is a People's Republic of China space vehicle launch facility .The facility is part of Dongfeng Aerospace City , and is located in the Gobi desert, Ejin Banner , Alxa League , Inner Mongolia, situated about 1,600 km from Beijing.- History :It was founded in 1958,...
- Xichang Satellite Launch CenterXichang Satellite Launch CenterThe Xichang Satellite Launch Center also known as Base 27 , is a People’s Republic of China space vehicle launch facility approximately 64 km northwest of Xichang City, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province....
- Wenchang Satellite Launch CenterWenchang Satellite Launch CenterWenchang Satellite Launch Center , located near Wenchang on the north-east coast of Hainan Island, is a former sub-orbital test center currently under upgrade. It is the fourth and southernmost space vehicle launch facility of the People's Republic of China...