Hainan to independently develop commercial space industry — Head of Research Institute

"Hainan will develop commercial cosmonautics - designing, building and launching satellites and putting them into operation," the Nanguo Metropolis Daily quoted him as saying.

According to the head of the research institute, who is also the chief designer in the Hainan satellite project, the launch of four spacecraft on February 27 should be considered a "breakthrough, an important milestone in the development of regional astronautics." The four satellites were named after China's southernmost province.

"We launch rockets from Wenchang Space Launch Centre in the north and use satellite information in Sanya in the south (where a special industry cluster is being formed - TASS comment)," said Yang Tianlian.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation launched 22 satellites last Sunday at 11:06 Beijing time (06:06 Moscow time) using the Chang Cheng 8 launch vehicle (CZ-8), four of which - Hainan-1-01, Hainan-1-02 and Wenchang-1-01, Wenchang-1-02 - were named after Hainan. The launch took place from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre, located on the northeast coast of the island. The main purpose of the spacecraft is to monitor the state of marine areas and obtain data to ensure safe navigation.

The Wenchang launch site is one of China's four space harbors and is the only place in the country where technical conditions allow the launch of the CZ-7A (Chang Cheng 7-a) - the largest (60.7 meters long) rocket of national design. China's other next-generation rockets, which only Hainan is capable of launching, are the commercial CZ-8 and the CZ-5 and CZ-5B (Chang Cheng 5 and Chang Cheng 5-be). They are the most massive (870 and 837.5 tons, respectively) of all counterparts developed in China. In addition, the spaceport is a popular attraction, which in 2021 attracted more than 8 million tourists who spent 6 billion yuan (more than $942 million) during the visit.