China’s first premiere complex dedicated to advertising operations is expected to debut its first project next fall, according to its general director.
Yang Tianliang, chairman of the Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Center in Wenchang, Hainan Province, told the China Daily in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that if all goes according to plan, the center’s first launch will take place around September or October.
“We actually want time to do practice sessions on the whole formula to prepare our staff for the first pitch and run into imaginable problems. So far, most of the responsibilities of the practice sessions have been fulfilled. We will make some small adjustments to the procedures related to the effects of the practice sessions,” he said.
The construction of the first two launch towers was completed in early June. The structure of the first tower was completed at the end of December.
In the coming weeks, tests will be carried out at the complex with a real carrier rocket, which will be used for the first flight, after its transport to the center, according to Yang.
It did reveal the type of rocket that will be used in the upcoming project, but resources from the Shanghai Academy of Space Flight Technology, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp and one of the country’s two major rocket brands, said the rocket will be a Long March 12, and the project will also mark the model’s first flight.
According to the designers, the Long March 12 is the newest model in the Long March family circle and the first Chinese rocket with a diameter of 3. 8 meters, which is wider than the 3. 35 meters diameter of most Chinese rockets. It has two stages, with a combined height of more than 60 meters.
Powered by six engines fueled by liquid oxygen and kerosene, the rocket will be capable of carrying spacecraft with a combined weight of at least 10 tons to low-Earth orbit, or six tons of satellites to a typical sun-synchronous orbit at an average speed. . altitude of 700 kilometers.
Yang said whether additional release missions can be completed before the end of this year will depend on recovery work after the first release. “In 2025, we plan to conduct the first launch of a privately built rocket at our center. We will also work to prepare our facilities for other missions that will take place next year,” she said. he declared.
The Yang Center is a joint venture of the Hainan provincial government and three state-owned conglomerates: China Aero Science and Technology Corp, China Aero Science and IndustryCorp and China Satellite Network Group.
Construction, which began in July 2022, was carried out through China Aerospace Construction Group.
Launch Tower No. 1 is especially responsible for maintaining the Long March 8 carrier rockets. Tower No. 2 is capable of servicing more than 10 types of liquid propellant carrier rockets, in addition to those of the family Long March and models evolved through personal ventures.
Once operational, the complex will be the fifth ground launch complex in China and the first committed to facilitating missions in the advertising area.
The other launch complex in Hainan, the Wenchang Space Launch Center, is run by the central government and is mainly responsible for serving state-run programs. There are three other such centers in China: Jiuquan in Gansu Province, Taiyuan in Shanxi Province, and Xichang in Sichuan Province.