TAIYUAN

Probably the least well-known of China’s launch sites, Taiyuan launch center is set in gently rolling hills in Kelan county south-west of Beijing, 1,500 m above sea level, near the coal town of Taiyuan. It began with a single pad for rocket launches with an 11-floor platform 76.9 m tall. The first launch from there was a Dong Feng missile in 1968, followed by further missile tests. It was not brought into the space program for 20 years, when it was used for the first launch of the Feng Yun weather satellite on the CZ-4A. It is the home of the Long March 4, but has also been used for some CZ – 2 missions. Taiyuan is used for application satellite launches, often into polar orbit, starting with the Feng Yun weather satellites and followed by Earth resources satellites, Yaogan military observation missions (Chapter 6), and a miscellany of other missions, such as Tan Ce (Chapter 7). The best weather for launches is between May and September. A second pad was brought into operation with the launch of Shi Jian 6-03A and 6-03B on 25th October 2008.