Facility Will Be China's 4th Launch Site

China broke ground on its fourth space launch center Monday, as part of that country's effort to build on its manned space flight program.

Monday's groundbreaking was attended by Chang Wanquan, a member of the powerful Central Military Commission, and Chen Qiufa, the head of the State Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence. Citing the newspaper Hainan Daily, the international news service AFP reports that work has begun on the Wenchang Space Satellite Launch Center. Located on the southern Hainan island, it will be the country's first coastal space launch facility.

The Hainan site is being built to accommodate the Long March CZ-5 carrier rocket, which will be able to carry larger payloads. China hopes the rocket will become the primary launch vehicle of China's manned space and space station program, the paper said.

Chinese Long March 2 Rocket

China's space program, which is run by the military, put its first astronaut in space in 2003. The country plans its own space station program based on the Shenzhou VII spacecraft. The Hainan space complex is expected to be completed in 2013, with the first flight of the Long March 5 rocket planned for 2014.

FMI: www.cnsa.gov.cn/n615709/cindex.html