Satellite launch pad completes 100th mission in NW China

A Long March-4B rocket carrying the Fengyun-3 07 satellite blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, April 16, 2023. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)

JIUQUAN, April 17 (Xinhua) -- A launch pad at northwest China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center has completed its 100th mission, following the launch of a Long March-4B rocket that placed a new meteorological satellite in space on Sunday.

The launch pad, officially put into use in May 2003, was the first launch pad in China that had reinforced concrete as its main structure.

Over the past 20 years, the number of missions carried out on this launch pad annually has increased to more than 10, said He Pengju, an expert working at the launch center.

The testing process and the efficiency of post-launch recovery have been continuously optimized, He said.

So far, the launch pad has placed more than 190 satellites into their planned orbits, including the dark matter probe satellite Wukong and the quantum science satellite Mozi.