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Hainan spaceport will be able to launch rockets all year round

According to the chronology of the Wenchang Space Launch Center, it first launched a spacecraft into orbit in January

HAIKOU /China/, January 11. /TASS/. The Wenchang Space Launch Center on the northeast coast of Hainan province already has all the necessary technology and capabilities to regularly launch spacecraft into orbit all year round, Dong Chongqing, secretary of the party committee of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, said.

The Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan province traditionally oversees the activities of the Wenchang launch site, China's "youngest" space launch site, which was launched in June 2016.

"Earlier, [January 9], we launched the Chang Cheng 7 rocket, and it was successful. This means that Wenchang already has what it takes to launch regularly year-round," Xinhua News Agency quoted the official as saying. As follows from the chronology of the Hainan spaceport, it first performed the task of placing spacecraft into orbit in January.

According to the agency, the management of the Xichang cosmodrome is actively working on issues related to the launch of new generation rockets, as well as heavy carriers. Currently, special attention is being paid to planned missions to land Chinese astronauts on the moon, to study asteroids and deep space, and to issues related to the maintenance of China's orbital station, according to the report.

The Wenchang Space Launch Centre is one of China's four space harbors and is the only place in the country where technical conditions allow the launch of the CZ-7A (Chang Cheng 7-a), the longest (60.7 m) rocket of national design. China's other next-generation launchers, which only Hainan is capable of launching, are the commercial CZ-8, as well as the CZ-5 and CZ-5B ("Chang Cheng 5" and "Chang Cheng 5-be"). They are the most massive (870 and 837.5 tons, respectively) of all counterparts developed in China. In addition, the spaceport is a popular attraction, attracting more than 8 million tourists in 2021 who spent 6 billion yuan (more than $942 million) during their visit.

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