China completes first coastal space launch center  

海南文昌建中国首个滨海发射场 可发射重型火箭

据报道，位于海南省的文昌航天发射场目前已基本竣工，具备投入使用条件，这将是中国首个滨海发射基地，也是世界上为数不多的低纬度发射场之一。基地建成后，中国发射自己的火箭空间站、载人登月乃至于火星探测已是指日可待。 [查看全文]

(ECNS) – China has finished building its first coastal space launch site in Wenchang city of the country's southernmost Hainan province, reported the People's Daily.

It will be put into service in 2015.

Wenchang Satellite Launch Center is the country's fourth space launch base. Of those, it is located at the lowest latitude.

Thanks to its location at 19 degrees north latitude, the center will be mainly used to launch synchronous satellites, heavy satellites, large space stations, and deep space probe satellites.

The Long March 5 rocket, which is under trial, will be launched from the base next year. The Chang'e 5, a new lunar probe scheduled to land on the moon around 2017, will also set off from the center.

In addition, the center will conduct a mission to launch China's first manned spacecraft to the Moon, said Long Lehao, a carrier rocket expert with the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The project might be carried out around 2025, he added.

China's other three space launch bases are the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province, the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province, and the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province.