Xichang Credit - © Mark Wade

China's launch site for geosynchronous orbit launches. Xichang Satellite Launch Centre is situated in Xichang, Sichuan Province, south-western China. The launch pad is at 102.0 degrees East and 28.2 degrees North. The head office of the launch centre is located in Xichang City, about 65 kilometers away. Xichang Airport is 50 km away. A dedicated railway and highway lead directly to the launch site. The Technical Centre is equipped for testing and integration of the payload and launch vehicle. The Mission Command and Control Centre, located 7 kilometers south-west of the launch pad, provides flight and safety control during launch rehearsal and launch. The down range tracking stations for Xichang are located in Xichang City and Yibin City of Sichuan Province, and Guiyang City of Guizhou Province. Other facilities include the Launch Complex, the Launch Control Centre, propellant fuelling systems, communications systems for launch command, telephone and data communications for users, and support equipment for meteorological monitoring and forecasting. Most of the commercial satellite launches of Long March vehicles have been from Xichang. By 2007 50 launches were known to have been made from the site since 1984.

• LC1 - Latitude: 28.2474 deg. Longitude: 102.0292 deg. Used by: CZ. First Launch: 1984-01-29. Last Launch: 2007-10-24. Number Launches: 17. Launch Complex 1

• LC2 - Latitude: 28.2455 deg. Longitude: 102.0271 deg. Used by: CZ. First Launch: 1990-07-16. Last Launch: 2007-07-05. Number Launches: 27. Launch Complex 2

2005 July 7 - Launch Vehicle: DF-21. DF-21 ASAT 1 Agency: PRC. Apogee: 850 km (520 mi).

2006 February 6 - Launch Vehicle: DF-21. DF-21 ASAT 2 Agency: PRC. Apogee: 850 km (520 mi).

2007 January 11 - 22:28 GMT - Launch Vehicle: DF-21. DF-21 ASAT 3 Chinese ASAT destroys FY-1C target satellite. Agency: PRC. Apogee: 850 km (520 mi). The FY-1C satellite, launched on 10 May 1999, was presumably well past the end of its operational life. It was destroyed in a test of a Chinese ASAT weapon at an altitude of 850 km, 4 degrees west of Xichang. Launch vehicle was unknown, but a version of the DF-21 IRBM would be sufficient to reach that altitude. Reportedly the flight had been preceded by one to three earlier tests that were either failures or just aimed at a point in space. The program was apparently very secret, and the Chinese foreign ministry was caught by surprise by the test and the storm of international condemnation that followed. The FY-1C was blown into over 200 pieces of debris, adding immediately by 10% to the population of space junk that threatens lower-altitude satellites.

2007 April 12 - 20:11 GMT - Launch Vehicle: CZ. LV Model: CZ-3A . Chang Zheng 3A CZ3A-13 (97) Beidou 5 Mass: 2,200 kg (4,800 lb). Spacecraft: Beidou. Agency: CASC. Perigee: 21,519 km (13,371 mi). Apogee: 21,544 km (13,386 mi). Inclination: 55.30 deg. Period: 773.40 min. The fifth Beidou satellite, but the first in the 12-hour, 55 deg inclination MEO portion of the constellation. All previous launches had been to populate the geostationary portion of the system.

2007 May 13 - 16:01 GMT - Launch Vehicle: CZ. LV Model: CZ-3B . Chang Zheng 3B CZ3B (98) Nigcomsat 1 Mass: 5,150 kg (11,350 lb). Spacecraft: DFH-4. Agency: Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd. Perigee: 35,782 km (22,233 mi). Apogee: 35,789 km (22,238 mi). Inclination: 0.10 deg. Period: 1,436.10 min. Second DFH-4 communications satellite; China's first commercial payload sale, and Nigeria's first commercial communications satellite. Positioned at 42.5 deg E. Payload consisted of 4 C-band, 14 Ku-band, 8 Ka-band, and 2 L-band transponders. The antenna subsystem consisted of seven antennas.

2007 May 31 - 16:08 GMT - Launch Vehicle: CZ. LV Model: CZ-3A . Chang Zheng 3A CZ3A-14 (100) Sinosat 3 Mass: 2,200 kg (4,800 lb). Spacecraft: DFH-3. Agency: SinoSatCom. Perigee: 35,779 km (22,231 mi). Apogee: 35,793 km (22,240 mi). Inclination: 0.30 deg. Period: 1,436.10 min. Chinese C-band domestic communications satellite, launched as part of a campaign to prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games, and to compensate for failure of the first DFH-4 satellite.