HAIKOU /China/, April 28. /TASS/. A deep space research center will open in the city of Wenchang in northeastern Hainan province. This was reported by the Hainan Daily newspaper.

According to the newspaper, an agreement on strategic cooperation and the construction of a scientific facility in Wenchang was signed this week by the Space City Administration and the Deep Space Research Laboratory (Anhui Province, East China). Thanks to the diversified resource base of the Hainan Free Trade Port, the new center is expected to have great potential in promoting international cooperation.

Its key objectives include stimulating the introduction of high technology and actively recruiting professional specialists for the development of Hainan's aerospace industry. The center is designed to promote quality work such as the maintenance of heavy launch vehicles and the government's lunar and planetary exploration programs.

Hainan is essential for the development of China's space industry. Wenchang, in the northeast of the island, is one of China's four space launch sites and the only place in the country where technical conditions allow for the launch of the CZ-7A (Chang Zheng 7A), the longest (60.7 m) rocket of national design. Five Tianzhou unmanned cargo spacecraft, the core module of the Chinese Tianhe orbital station and its Wentian and Mengtian laboratory modules, the Tianwen-1 Mars probe and the Chang'e-5 unmanned lunar exploration vehicle were launched from the Hainan launch site. In addition, Wenchang allowed China to put many satellites into orbit.