China's Kuaizhou rocket industrial park partially operational

WUHAN -- Kuaizhou rocket industrial park, which is based in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, has been partially put into operation, according to China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC).

After it is fully operational, the park is expected to be capable of completing the assembly and testing for 20 solid-fuelled carrier rockets annually.

With construction beginning in May 2017, the industrial park is the first project in Wuhan's national aerospace industrial base, the first commercial aerospace industrial base in China.

Kuaizhou, which is Chinese for fast ship, is a low-cost solid-fuelled carrier rocket with high reliability and a short preparation period.

With a lift-off mass of 78 tonnes, the rocket was designed to launch low-Earth and Sun-synchronous orbit satellites.