Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre /
Northern Missile Test Base (Base 25) /
Wuzhai Missile and Space Test Centre
Last updated: 4 April 2008
Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre (TSLC) is a space launch and ballistic missile test facility located at 38°50'55"N 111°36'31"E in Kelan County, Shanxi Province, about 284km by road from Taiyuan City. The centre is called the "Wuzhai Missile and Space Test Centre" by the U.S. intelligence, because of its proximity to Wuzhai County, while in fact the majority part of the facility is located in the neighbouring Kelan County. The centre is officially known as the "Northern Missile Test Base", or the 25th Test & Training Base, within the Chinese military.
 |
| The main satellite launch pad at the Taiyuan Satellite launch Centre (Source: Chinese Internet) |
History
In November 1966, the PRC leadership decided to built a second missile test site farther away from the northern border to support the country’s ballistic missile programme. Construction of the Northern Missile Test Site (Huabei Daodan Shiyanchang) began in April 1967, and the facility became operational in late 1968. On 18 December 1968, a liquid-propellant DF-3 medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) was successfully launched from the test site.
The second phase of the test site’s construction included missile and satellite launch pads, underground missile silos, railway links, airfield, telemetry, tracking and communications systems, and other technical and logistic support facilities. As a result of its rapid expansion, the test site gained independence from Base 20 (Shuang Cheng Tzu Missile and Space Centre) in January 1976 to become the Northern Missile Test Base (Huabei Daodan Shiyan Jidi), or the 25th Test & Training Base (Base 25).
Between January 1979 and December 1981, five DF-5 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) flight tests were carried out from Base 25, four of which were launched from underground missile silos. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the base also supported the flight tests of the JL-1 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and the DF-21 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).
Base 25 began to undertake Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) satellite launch missions in 1988. The previously highly-secretive military complex also became known as Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre to the public. The centre is primarily used to launch meteorological satellites, earth resource satellites, military imagery reconnaissance satellites, and scientific research satellites using the CZ-2C and CZ-4 rockets. Between 1997 and 1999, the centre also launched 12 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) communications satellites for the Motorola Iridium project.
The centre continued to play a key role in the PRC’s missile and space launch vehicle (SLV) programmes. The maiden flight of the DF-31 ICBM from the centre to the target zone in the northwest Xinjiang province took place in August 1999, with another few tests carried out in 2000~2006. Other launch activities included the maiden flight of the CZ-1D small launch vehicle in 2002, and two unsuccessful attempts to launch the KT-1 solid-propellant launch vehicle in 2002 and 2003.
 |
| A DF-5 ICBM on the launch pad at Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre (Source: Chinese Internet) |
| |
 |
| A DF-5 ICBM launched from an underground silo at the Base 25 (Source: Chinese Internet) |
| |
 |
| A KT-1 solid-propellant small launch vehicle on the launch pad at the TSLC/Base 25 (Source: Chinese Internet) |
Facilities
At least four launch pads and more than a dozen support areas are scattered in the mountain valleys in Kelan County, with more facilities built underground or inside mountains to resist nuclear strikes. The main satellite launch site consists of a launch pad with an umbilical tower, a launch control centre, and few technical support buildings. Different sites and areas are connected by roads and railways.
The centre is connected with the outside world by roads and railway lines. The Wuzhai Airfield built in the nearby Wuzhai County in the 1970s had a 2,600m runway, but it may have already been abandoned. The Taiyuan Airport is about 300km away from the centre by road and can accept large jet planes such as Boeing 747.
|
