Taiyuan Cosmodrome
Coordinates: 38 ° 50 ′ 50 ″ N , 111 ° 36 ′ 29 ″ E
 
| ||||
Cosmodrome in the People's Republic of China |
The Taiyuan Cosmodrome ( Chinese 太原 衛星 發射 中心 / 太原 卫星 发射 中心 , Pinyin Tàiyuán Wèixīngfāshèzhōngxīn ) is a spaceport and military base of the People's Republic of China . It is located in Kelan District in the north of Shanxi Province , was built in 1966 and fully operational two years later. Taiyuan lies at an altitude of 1,500 meters and its dry climate makes it an ideal rocket launch site. US intelligence services refer to the base as the " Wuzhai Missile and Space Test Center". The Taiyuan Space Launch Center (TSLC) is located approximately 280 kilometers northwest of the city of Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province. Taiyuan was originally a top-secret missile base operated by the Chinese armed forces. The spaceport only became known to the public when the FY-1A weather satellite was launched on September 7, 1988. Two launch pads ( 38.8494 ° N , 111.608 ° O and 38.863 ° N , 111.5895 ° O ) are used to weather satellites , earth observation satellites and other scientific satellite with the rocket Long March in geostationary orbit to shoot. A third starting system ( 38.8369 ° N , 111.6059 ° O ) from 2002 to 2003 for the test flights of the carrier rocket KT-1 in operation.
The Taiyuan Cosmodrome is primarily used to transport near-Earth and polar satellites. The first launch pad for space missions ("old ramp") was completed in 1979. It is suitable for launching CZ-2 and CZ-4 launch vehicles. The ramp was modernized and rebuilt in 2008/2009 and put back into operation in April 2009. The second known ramp ("new ramp") was ready for use in 2008. It is considerably more modern and can be used for a maximum of three rocket launches within a month. From 1988 to 2012 around 40 space missions were launched in Taiyuan.
On December 7, 2019, 6 satellites were launched into space with a rocket.
Taiyuan is also the main launch site for test flights of land-based or sea-based ICBMs for the transport of atomic bombs . For testing interceptor missiles , the cosmodrome has a branch in Xinjiang Province , the Korla interceptor missile test site (库尔勒 反导 试验场, Pinyin Kù'ěrlè Fǎndǎo Shìyànchǎng ), where ICBMs launched from Taiyuan can be launched over the Taklamakan desert.
The site is connected to the Ningwu - Kelan railway line by two railway lines.
See also
Web links
- Taiyuan Cosmodrome in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ 郭庆娜: 台 媒 称 大陆 近日 完成 反导 试验: 禁飞区 涵盖 山西 和 新疆. In: cankaoxiaoxi.com. September 26, 2016, accessed May 27, 2020 (Chinese).
- ↑ 苏鹏宇: 首次 拦截 “洲际导弹 靶弹” 型 靶弹 的 试验. In: kepuchina.cn. June 5, 2017, accessed May 27, 2020 (Chinese).