China's primary site for sun-synchronous and polar orbit missions, handling most of China's Earth observation and remote sensing payloads. Commercial smallsat constellations increasingly launch from Taiyuan.
A launch site's latitude determines which orbits are achievable and at what fuel cost. Taiyuan at 38.8490°N sets the following constraints:
From 38.8490°N, Taiyuan can reach 4 Starlink inclination shells: 43°, 53°, 70°, 97.6° SSO (polar).
Trains launched to higher inclinations are visible from more of the world. A 97° SSO train from Taiyuan would be visible at virtually every latitude; a 53° train is visible from latitudes up to ±57° (primarily) — much of the populated world. In the hours after launch — before satellites raise their orbits — a tight train of 20–60 bright dots crosses the sky roughly every 90 minutes. Use OrbitalNodes' Starlink tracker for exact train pass times.
Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre is located at 38.8490°N, 111.6080°E in Shanxi, China. It is owned and operated by PLA / CNSA. The site has conducted approximately 130 orbital launches since its first in 1988.
Current vehicles operating from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre include Long March 4, Long March 6, Kuaizhou. Primary customers are CNSA, commercial providers, launching Earth observation, meteorological, SSO commercial constellations.
At 38.8490°N, Taiyuan's minimum achievable inclination is 38.8° (due-east launch). The ISS at 51.6° is reachable with a dogleg manoeuvre. The site can reach orbits between roughly 39° and 98° inclination.
Yes — Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre hosts a high cadence of approximately 20 orbital launches per year. Check the operator's website for public viewing arrangements and launch windows.
Satellites regularly launched from Taiyuan include Earth observation, meteorological, SSO commercial constellations. The ISS was supplied or crew-launched from sites at similar latitudes. Use OrbitalNodes to track any visible satellite in real time.
Taiyuan at 38.8490°N was positioned to access the full range of low-Earth orbits including the ISS corridor. The site has been operational since 1988.
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