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After a launch site is expanded, why does it still need a full rehearsal?
Space ScienceStandardAbout 3 min
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On the coast of Dongjiao Town in Wenchang, Hainan, there is a base built specifically for launching commercial rockets. Work began on 6 July 2022; by June 2024 it had completed China's first general-purpose liquid-propellant launch pad, and on 30 November 2024 it launched a Long March 12 rocket successfully. On 12 March 2025 it reached two-pad launch capability. If it can already launch, why build more?
On 25 January 2025, the phase-two project formally began, with a planned construction period of about 730 days and a site of over 1,100 mu. The work is not just two more pads (No. 3 and No. 4): it also includes a fuelling storage area, a rocket workshop, a satellite workshop and a tracking station. In other words, from storing and fuelling a rocket to tracking it after lift-off, every step needs its own facilities before the site can really run more launches.
The material says phase two is basically complete and has entered a full-system rehearsal stage. A rehearsal means running the equipment and the people together once, to check whether the parts work with one another. So "basically complete" describes the hardware being largely in place; "capable of launching" describes the whole process actually working. They come one after the other — they are not the same thing.
Once phase two is complete, the site's annual launch capacity will rise to more than 60 launches. Note that this is a designed capacity after completion, not 60 launches already carried out. For commercial spaceflight, how many launch slots are available directly affects whether satellites can go up on schedule, so the expansion is about meeting future demand.
The material only says phase two has entered the full-system rehearsal stage. It does not report the rehearsal results, nor announce an official launch date. So we know it is nearly ready — but not yet that it is definitely ready.
A launch pad is where a rocket lifts off, but a launch needs more than a pad. Rockets are assembled and stored in workshops, loaded with propellant before launch, and tracked by ground stations after lift-off. These facilities work like a production line: if any step is too small, the number of launches cannot grow. That is why expanding a launch site usually means expanding the surrounding facilities too, not just adding pads.
"Annual capacity of more than 60 launches" is a designed capability after completion, not 60 launches already carried out.
The site sits by the sea, and by 12 March 2025 it had reached two-pad launch capability.
The Hainan commercial spaceport is China's first specialised commercial launch base, built and operated by Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Co., Ltd. In June 2024 it completed China's first general-purpose liquid-propellant launch pad with launch capability, and on 30 November 2024 its first Long March 12 launch succeeded. Once phase two is complete, the site's annual launch capacity will rise to more than 60 launches.
This article was researched and written from the following materials:
Primary research: 海南国际商业航天发射有限公司
News report: IT之家4 October 2026Read the original
AI editorial note: this article was rewritten by AI from the materials above and fact-checked. It is not a reproduction of the source article.
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