A two-hour drive from the Haikou Meilan Airport in south China’s Hainan Province is the only coastal space launch center in the country.

Posters advertising real estate projects line the road on the way to the Wenchang Space Launch Center (WSLC).

This small city, once famous only for its chicken, is gaining a reputation for its rocket launches and satellites.

Construction of the WSLC began in 2009 and it was completed in 2014.

In 2016, China’s latest rockets Long March-7 and Long March-5 both made their maiden flights from WSLC.

Zhu Liangping, a senior engineer at WSLC, said the facility "provides space vehicles the advantage of using the Earth’s greater rotational speed at lower latitudes. This lowers fuel requirements for the rocket to reach orbit. Because the area sits by the sea, it’s also convenient to transport gigantic rockets like Long March-5 carrier vehicles.”

Rockets and spacecraft are manufactured in different parts of China and are transported in parts by sea. There is a C-shaped building in the facility. On the taller end is the 501 assembly factory with a height of 101 meters. Its iron gate is 81 meters tall and weighs about 800 tons. It’s the highest in Asia, perhaps even in the world. Right next to it is the 502 assembly factory.

Assembly factory 501 was built for China’s first and largest heavy-lift carrier rocket, the Long March-5, while its neighbor 502 is for the Long March-7.

Senior engineer Zhu Liangping also participated in the site’s construction.

He said the WSLC adheres to transparency and international best practices. “It’s definitely more open than other launch sites in China. First, it is surrounded by open terrain. Second, from the very beginning of its construction, we decided that it should be an open and cutting-edge facility. Finally, Hainan is a tourist destination, so boosting tourism was also a consideration,” Zhu said. 

In December, China’s Chang’e-5 lunar probe will be launched from the WSLC. The future Mars probe will also blast off from Hainan. 

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