China has launched the first rocket from the new commercial spaceport of the Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Co, which aims to become a full-fledged competitor of the US SpaceX. This was reported by Bloomberg.
A launch vehicle called Long March-12 Y1 was sent into space and successfully placed two experimental satellites into orbit. It was launched from China's first commercial launch site on the southern island of Hainan.
China aspires to become a space power, but lags behind in commercial rocket launches. In 2023, SpaceX made about 100 launches, eight times more than all Chinese private startups combined.
The Long March-12 launch vehicle, developed by the Shanghai Academy of Space Flight Technology, is currently the country's largest single-stage launch vehicle in terms of payload.