HAIKOU, April 8. /TASS/. The Hainan authorities intend to actively develop international space projects for commercial purposes and, to this end, will stimulate the development of the local spaceport, Deputy Secretary General of the provincial administration Li Dongyu announced on Thursday.
“Recently, there has been an extremely high market demand for commercial space projects, this segment has huge potential,” he stressed at a press conference. “Hainan, with the assistance of the Chinese State Committee for Development and Reforms, as well as other competent government agencies <... > intends to turn Wenchang spaceport (northeast coast of the island) into a top-notch international space launch site, and form a model for the development of the industry of international commercial space projects."
According to the official, Hainan is interested in implementing large-scale projects. "The cosmodrome in Wenchang is located on the coast and it is possible to carry out launches from there with minimal costs. It is very convenient in terms of transporting large launch vehicles," the official stressed. He recalled that the provision of assistance to the space industry is one of the important points of Hainan's free trade port program.
"We will constantly contribute to the advancement of open international cooperation on commercial space exploration, contribute to the formation of a corresponding industry chain on Hainan," he concluded.
A research complex is under construction in Wenchang, which, like the project of the future national orbital station, will allow China to increase cooperation with other countries in the study and development of outer space. The area of this strategic facility is over 12 sq. km, the project is supervised by a special regional department. At the same time, the authorities are working to improve the infrastructure. In the settlement adjacent to the local cosmodrome, it is planned to carry out a number of major transformations in the social sphere, to raise the level of development of the education system, medical services, culture and sports.
The Wenchang Cosmodrome was built in 2014. The proximity of this facility to the equator makes it easier to launch heavy launch vehicles. According to state program, it will be used to launch modules from China's space station into orbit in missions to explore the Moon and Mars. Back in 2018, in an interview with TASS, the provincial leadership expressed its readiness to create a specialized Russian-Chinese center on Hainan.