On December 29, the launch station No. 1 of Hainan International Commercial Space Launch Center, my country's first commercial space launch site under construction, was officially completed. This launch station is a dedicated station for the domestic new generation medium-sized rocket Long March 8. It is the core key to the launch center's launch capabilities and an important facility to ensure major national missions.
Launch Station No. 1 contains 11 types of equipment and facilities, including fixed service towers and launch pads. Compared with traditional launch stations, the diversion trough is eliminated and a modular steel structure launch tower solution is adopted, which shortens the construction period by half. For the first time, a number of advanced technologies such as ground cone discharge and extrusion water spray for cooling and noise reduction were used to overcome the problem of "launch in 7 days and recovery in 7 days".
The Hainan International Commercial Space Launch Center will start construction in July 2022 and is expected to achieve regular launches in 2024. Up to now, the engineering construction surrounding the launch mission of the No. 1 launch station has been basically completed, and the No. 2 launch station is under construction. At present, the main body of the diversion trough has been capped at the No. 2 launch station. It is planned to complete the civil construction on February 10, 2024, and complete the on-site installation and commissioning of the equipment by the end of May. The construction of supporting facilities such as the Sanping factory building in the technical zone is progressing in an orderly manner and is planned to be completed by the end of September 2024.