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posted by martyb on Tuesday September 01 2020, @12:59AM   Printer-friendly
from the watching-Elon's-feed dept.

China currently has four launch centers (three inland and one coastal) and is building a floating one.

China is making progress with a spaceport to facilitate sea-based launch activity and development of rockets, satellites and related applications.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), the country's main space contractor, is developing the spaceport in Haiyang City on the coast of the eastern province of Shandong.

The 'Eastern aerospace port' will add to China's four established space launch centers and be a base for sea launches of light-lift solid rockets.

Use of a sea based launch site could reduce safety risks to civilians and also decrease visibility of launches.

Launches from inland sites often see spent stages threaten inhabited areas, requiring expensive safety and cleanup operations.

China's intention to buildout a 'satellite internet' is one of multiple infrastructure initiatives likely to benefit from the new launch center.


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  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday September 01 2020, @01:07AM (4 children)

    by looorg (578) on Tuesday September 01 2020, @01:07AM (#1044785)

    Launches from inland sites often see spent stages threaten inhabited areas, requiring expensive safety and cleanup operations.

    So if all the exhausts, etc, just blast straight into the sea there are no hazardous chemicals or anything then? Or is this just some kind of out of sight out of mind thinking?

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  • (Score: 2) by ikanreed on Tuesday September 01 2020, @02:02AM

    by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 01 2020, @02:02AM (#1044794) Journal

    "Stages" here refers to the physical engines and fuel tanks of the rockets. Presumably the problem being landing on things like factories, homes, and commercial areas. The US blasts off from coastal Florida to drop them in water too.

    The solid fuel boosters common of early stages do indeed use nasty aluminum+perchlorate, fuel oxidizers, which leaves ammonia, chlorine gas, and aluminium oxides behind, none of which are good for your health to breathe. But compared to the general air quality issues faced in major Chinese cities, I doubt it's a big contributor to health problems. I'll take aluminum powder in ppt over ppm of sulfides and ash

    And the later liquid fuel stages, those put out... carbon dioxide and water. Just like you do.

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday September 01 2020, @02:34AM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 01 2020, @02:34AM (#1044805) Journal

    So if all the exhausts, etc, just blast straight into the sea there are no hazardous chemicals or anything then?

    There's no hundreds of deaths from dropping a rocket [washingtonpost.com] on a nearby village.

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday September 01 2020, @05:06AM (1 child)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 01 2020, @05:06AM (#1044833) Journal

      The Chinese rocket had barely cleared the tower before it veered sideways seconds after liftoff, exploding in a fireball against the night sky. Blazing rocket fuel and chunks of the 10-story launch vehicle rained down on a nearby village, killing scores of people and destroying the $85 million U.S. satellite that was its cargo.

      The failed launch on Feb. 14, 1996, was yet another setback in China's plans for its troubled Long March rocket.

      I believe that is the same story I read, years ago. Except, it was written by a westerner who was there to observe the launch. He and his crew spent a day + some hours trying to get photographs and explanations of the accident. They brought very little out with them, camera and gear being confiscated. It was a pretty horrible scene. It also went into detail about how the western techs were treated in the aftermath.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday September 01 2020, @11:21PM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 01 2020, @11:21PM (#1045152) Journal

        It also went into detail about how the western techs were treated in the aftermath.

        One of the things about the Chinese program of that time, was their habit of blaming their launch failures on the payload. That's a big part of the reason they lost most of the commercial launch market. There's a crazy amount of liability from using the Long March system. They wipe out another town, you probably will be held liable.