Jiuquan, formerly known as Suzhou, is a prefecture-level city in the northwesternmost part of Gansu Province in the People's Republic of China.
In the aerospace context, Jiuquan is a city located in the Gansu province of northwest China that is home to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC), which is also known as the Shuang Cheng Tze launch center. It is one of four satellite launch centers in China, and is the main center for the launch of manned spacecraft and scientific and technological satellites.
Examples of launches that have taken place at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center include:
- The launch of China's first satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1, in April 1970
- The launch of China's first manned spacecraft, Shenzhou 5, in October 2003
- The launch of the Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 space laboratories in 2011 and 2016 respectively, which were used for manned spaceflight and space research.
- The launch of the Chang'e lunar exploration program, which successfully landed the Chang'e-4 probe on the far side of the moon in 2019.
- The launch of the Long March 5B rocket in May 2020, which sent the first module of China's new space station, Tiangong, into orbit.
- The launch of the Mars probe, Tianwen-1, on July 23, 2020.
The launch center is also used for commercial satellite launches and launches for other countries. It's also one of the busiest launch center in the world, with a diverse range of launches happening throughout the year.