China approves bid to build fifth rocket launch site as Zhejiang province fires up for space boom

Name: Chinese factories race to get rockets ready for space launch missions
Uploaded: 2021-04-08T06:59:27.000Z
Duration: 1 min 23 s
Description: Chinese factories race to get rockets ready for space launch missions

The Xiangshan site has favourable latitude and could launch 100 missions a year, according to state media

To meet its goal of having a constellation of satellites, China must build bigger rockets or have more launch sites, or both

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Ningbo will invest US$3 billion in a rocket launch centre in the county of Xiangshan. Photo: Unbekannt/CNSA

Reuters

Published: 2:59pm, 8 Apr 2021Updated: 4:16pm, 18 May 2021

A port city in eastern China has launched an ambitious plan to build the country’s fifth rocket launch site, under a longer-term goal to ramp up space infrastructure to meet the demands of an expected boom in commercial missions.

An engineering company in eastern Zhejiang province won a tender on April 1 to construct the launch pad in Ningbo, as well as a section of the command centre and an assembly and testing facility, according to a document posted on the website of the Ningbo Free Trade Zone.

As part of the Zhejiang government’s infrastructure plans for 2021-25, Ningbo will invest 20 billion yuan (US$3 billion) in a rocket launch centre in the county of Xiangshan, or “Elephant Hill”.

The centre will be capable of launching 100 missions a year.

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Chinese factories race to get rockets ready for space launch missions

According to media, Xiangshan has a favourable latitude for rocket launches, comparable to Cape Canaveral, home of the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.