The Xichang Space Launch Site in China, located at the inland launch site of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan Province, completed its 200th launch mission on Saturday, marking a milestone.
At 7:37 Beijing time, 11 Geely 02 constellation satellites carried by the Long March 2C carrier rocket took off from the launch site and entered the designated orbit.
The launch site conducted its first launch mission in 1984, which means it took 40 years to reach 200, currently the fastest among all launch sites in China to reach this milestone.
On April 8, 1984, the Long March carrier rocket carrying the Dongfanghong-2 experimental communication satellite was launched here, successfully sending the satellite into space, marking the first launch mission conducted here.
Since then, this launch site has been making contributions to China's aerospace industry, carrying out milestone launch missions multiple times, including launch vehicles, satellites, and other spacecraft such as the Chang'e-1 lunar probe and the first Beidou satellite.
China has three inland launch sites, namely the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwest, the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the north, and the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwest.
In addition, a coastal launch site under the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, is located in Hainan Province, southern China.
The Xichang Satellite Launch Center was established in 1970, mainly responsible for launching geostationary orbit satellites and other space launch missions from the Xichang Inland Launch Site and the Wenchang Coastal Launch Site.
The Wenchang Space Launch Site has also carried out multiple major space launch missions, including the first flight of China's new generation of high thrust carrier rockets, China's first planetary exploration mission, and the construction of China's space station.
According to the center, due to its firm efforts in technological innovation and capability enhancement, the Xichang and Wenchang launch sites under the Xichang Satellite Launch Center are capable of carrying out intensive space launch missions.
