At a major satellite center in southwest
China a launch
tower has been upgraded to increase the country's satellite launch
competitiveness.
Use of the No. 3 tower at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in
Sichuan Province would alternate with the No.
2 tower and it was possible for two rockets to be prepared
simultaneously, a center spokesman said.
The upgrade would improve China's competitiveness in the
international arena, the spokesman said. In the next five years the
Xichang center would develop the capability to launch more than 10
satellites a year, the spokesman explained.?
Set up in 1983 the No. 3 tower is mainly used to launch
geosynchronous satellites on Long March-3 carrier rockets and polar
orbit satellites on Long March-2C rockets. It has successfully
launched 16 satellites including China's first experimental
communications satellite Dongfanghong-2.
New technologies such as remote control, a real-time
three-dimensional display system and a low-temperature fuel
concentration warning system have been added to the upgraded launch
tower. This makes it more advanced, highly-automated and safer, the
spokesman said.
The Xichang Satellite Launch Center was established in 1970. It
will launch China's first lunar-probing satellite in 2007.
(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2006)