Jiuquan Launch Area 4
 Long March 2D in 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Launch site | Jiuquan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Short name | LA-4 (SLS) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total launches | 55 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch pad(s) | Two | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Launch Area 4 (LA-4), also known as the South Launch Site or SLS, is the only active Long March launch complex at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre.[1][2] It consists of two launch pads; SLS-1 / 921 and SLS-2 / 603. SLS-1 has been the launch site for all missions conducted as part of the Shenzhou programme, including the first Chinese manned spaceflight, Shenzhou 5. Since it was activated in 1999; Long March 2C, Long March 2D, Long March 2F and Long March 4C rockets have launched from LA-4.
The first spacecraft to be launched from the site was Shenzhou 1, atop a Long March 2F, on 19 November 1999.[3] SLS-2 became operational in 2003,[4] and has since been used for most unmanned launches from Jiuquan. As of March 2010, twenty launches have been made from the complex. The most recent launch from the site was from SLS-2 on 5 March 2010, when the Long March 4C made its first flight from the complex, carrying the Yaogan 9 satellite.[1] Long March 4 launches had previously only been conducted from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre.[5]
References
- ^ a b Barbosa, Rui C (5 March 2010). "China launch YaoGan Weixing-9, announce increase in vehicle production". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
- ^ Wade, Mark. "Jiuquan". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
- ^ Wade, Mark. "Jiuquan SLS". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
- ^ Wade, Mark. "Jiuquan SLS-2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
- ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 5 March 2010.