Article Posted on : - Mar 10, 2010

The new launch site will be mainly used for launching synchronous satellites, heavy satellites, large space stations, and deep space probe satellites.

MOSCOW (BNS): “Wenchang” the fourth space center being built in China will not be ready for service earlier than 2014-2015, a media report said.

The construction of the space center was previously expected to be completed by 2013.

"The construction of the fourth space center, Wenchang, is ongoing. China's first low-latitude space center will be commissioned in 2014-2015," Ria Novosti quoted a local government official as saying to CCTV on Tuesday.

Wenchang, located on the northeast coast of the Hainan tropical island, will be the country's first low-latitude space center. Its latitude of only 19 degrees north of the equator will contribute to lower fuel consumption and maximum payload.

According to the report, the life span of a satellite launched from the space center will be up to three years longer as more fuel will be saved during a shorter maneuver from the transit orbit to the geosynchronous orbit.

The maximum payload of Chinese rockets will be increased by more than 300 kg, up 7.4% as compared to the other three centers, it said.

China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) is the most heavily used space facility. The other two centers are Taiyuan in northern Shanxi Province and Xichang in southwest China's Sichuan province.