The equipment of space launch center can be divided into general equipment and special equipment. General equipment is general industrial equipment, including electric power, lighting, heating, ventilation, fire fighting, communication, water supply, drainage, elevators, etc. Special equipment is used for transportation, loading and unloading, assembly, testing, erection, filling, gas charging, temperature regulation, launch preparation, launch and flight control of rockets and spacecraft.
Because the space launch center is a very complex system, including many facilities and equipment, there are many factors that affect its structure and composition: for example, the geographical coordinates of the site; The scale of national and international space programs; The scale of space launch vehicle; The purpose and type of spacecraft; National technical development level and economic situation, as well as the ability to ensure reliability and safety.
The location of space launch center involves many factors, even the relationship between many countries. Because the navigation area for launching modern spacecraft sometimes reaches half the equator, it is necessary to consider the possibility of establishing restricted areas in rocket launching area, falling area and spacecraft recovery area, the safety measures that should be taken when the rocket fails during launching or active flight, and the necessity of setting up ground monitoring stations or measuring ships along the navigation area.
The selection of launch site should also consider the topography, soil structure and water supply conditions in this area, as well as the land, sea and air traffic conditions in this area.
Climate and meteorological conditions (annual average temperature, humidity, number of sunny days in a year, etc. The area where the launch site is located is also an important factor to be considered, which largely determines the technical ability of the launch site and affects the reliability of the ground system.
The site selection must also consider the surrounding environmental conditions. From the perspective of safety, it should be located in a sparsely populated area far from industrial centers. Take Xichang as an example.
The first is high-altitude latitude paper. The launch site is located at 102 degrees east longitude and 28.2 degrees north latitude, with an average altitude of 150.
0 meters. We know that the inclination of satellite orbit is very important to the latitude of launch site. The lower the latitude, the closer to the equator.
It can not only make full use of the centrifugal force of the earth's rotation, but also shorten the distance from the ground to the satellite orbit, thus saving rocket fuel and increasing the rocket payload. In addition, it can avoid a series of complicated technical problems in rocket development and simplify the manufacturing process. At the same time, it can meet the requirements of launching satellites with large and small inclination angles in the future, and is also conducive to the recovery of satellite and rocket components.
The second is the hidden terrain. Xichang, located in the hinterland of Daliangshan, has unique advantages compared with other candidate sites. Those misty mountains all year round seem to be a barrier to Xichang, blocking the eyes and footsteps of the outside world.
The third is the climate. Xichang is known as the "Little Spring City", and its climate is not inferior to that of Kunming, where the seasons are like spring. Xichang is a subtropical plateau monsoon climate with an annual average temperature of 17 degrees Celsius, which is one of the areas with the smallest annual temperature change in China. More importantly, Xichang has obvious rainy and dry seasons. Only June to September is the rainy season every year, and most of them are night rain and afternoon showers.
Rain, the rest of the month is the dry season, with as many as 320 sunny days and almost no foggy days. Everyone who has just arrived in Xichang is often surprised at how the blue sky above his head can be as spotless as it was just washed, and this washed blue sky has greatly increased the annual test cycle and allowed launch time of satellites.
Fourthly, Xichang is rich in water resources, which can meet the large amount of water used by the launch center.
The fifth is traffic. 50 kilometers away from the launch site is Xichang Airport, which is not far from chengdu-kunming railway and Sichuan-Yunnan Highway. In addition, the Jinsha River waterway in the east can also be connected with Yibin, Chongqing and even Shanghai by waterway. These conditions are very conducive to the transportation of needed materials and satellite and rocket products.