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People's Liberation Army
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The People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force is an arm of the People's Liberation Army. It was established on 19 April 2024.[1] Chinese state media has also referred to it as the People's Liberation Army Space Force.[2]

History

The PLA Aerospace Force was established on 19 April 2024, severed from the simultaneously disestablished Strategic Support Force,[3][4] and consolidates all the PLA's space-based C4ISR systems, as well as administering all the existing launch sites.

Organization

The PLAASF is headquartered in the Haidian District of Beijing.

Central staff sections include:

  • Staff department (参谋部)
    • Information and Communications Division (信息T处)
  • Political Work Department[5] (政治工作部)
    • Cadre Bureau[5](干部局)
    • Innovation Office[6](创作室)
  • Logistics Department[6](后勤部)
    • Engineering Construction Management Office 工程代建管理办公室(创作室)
  • Equipment Department (装备部)
    • Equipment Support Team[7](装备保障队)
  • Relay Satellite Control and Management Center (中继卫星控制管理中心)
  • Test Equipment and Materials Procurement Bureau (试验装备物资采购局)[8]
  • East China Office (华东办事处)[9]
  • Xichang Quality Supervision Station (西昌质量监督站)

Subordinate Units

Launch Centers

  • Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (中国酒泉卫星发射中心), aka unit 63600 (a.k.a. Dongfeng Base or Dongfeng Aerospace City): Located in Dongfeng Town in the Ejin Banner of the Alxa League of Inner Mongolia, Jiuqian was one of the first aerospace launch facilities ever constructed in China. Along with conducting air reconnaissance, it is the main base for testing and launching the "Long March" series of rockets, missiles, various test satellites meant for low and medium orbits, application satellites, and crewed spacecraft. The base is also responsible for the main spacecraft recovery location.
  • Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (中国太原卫星发射中心): Stationed in Kelan County of Xinzhou City in Shanxi Province, the launch base was constructed in March 1967 under Project 3201 as a response to the breakdown of Sino-Soviet relations. The base was constructed deep in the mountains and deliberately misnamed as part of the Chinese strategy of "backing-up, concealment, and dispersion". The site mostly served as a nuclear missile site and as a detachment of Jiuqian until it was made an independent unit in January 1976. The launch center was opened to international commercial launches in the 1990s with its launch of two U.S. Iridium satellites into orbit.
  • Xichang Satellite Launch Center (西昌卫星发射中心) aka Unit 63790: Headquartered on the Hangtian North Road of Xichang City in Sichuan Province. As of 2022 it also remotely controlled the Wenchang Aerospace Launch Site in Hainan Province.

Control Centers

  • Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center (北京航天飞行控制中心): based in the Haidian district of Beijing, it is the main control center for China's space program, including the crewed Shenzhou missions. The BACC conducts launch monitoring, tracking and measurement, as well as launch recovery.[10] It includes the China offices of SINOSAT and Inmarsat.The complex including the BACC is often called "Aerospace City" (航天城)

Testing, Development, and Training Centers

  • Luoyang Electronic Equipment Test Center (中国洛阳电子装备试验中心), aka unit 63880: Located at Luoyang in the Henan Province, Base 33 serves as the metrology and instrument measurement center of the PLAASF. They also conduct astronomical mapping and surveying. This base used to be one of the most restricted bases in China and was off limits to foreigners until the 1980s.
  • Astronaut Center of China (中国航天员科研训练中心) aka ACC: located at the Beijing Aerospace City, it is the main training and research center for the Chinese space program's astronauts.
  • Astronaut Corps (中国人民解放军航天员大队): headquartered is a directly subordinated military unit of the Aerospace Force. As of 2018 it had selected and trained 42 astronauts, and was in the process of training a third batch, which will include civilians.
  • People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force's Aerospace Engineering University (中国人民解放军战略支援部队航天工程大学): not clear what the new name will be after the April 2024 reform.

Equipment

The PLAASF controls all of China's military satellites, as a well as the BeiDou satellite navigation system[12].[13]

Name of Class Chinese System Type Orbit Number in Service Notes
SatNav: 45 Satellites
BeiDou 2-M 北斗二号-M BDS-2 Navigation MEO 3[13]
BeiDou 2-G 北斗二号-G BDS-2 Navigation GEO 5[13]
BeiDou 2-IGSO 北斗二号-IGSO BDS-2 Navigation IGSO 7[13]
BeiDou 3-M 北斗三号-M BDS-3 Navigation MEO 24[13]
BeiDou 3-G 北斗三号-G BDS-3 Navigation GEO 3[13]
BeiDou 3-I 北斗三号-I BDS-3 Navigation IGSO 3[13]
Communications: 11 Satellites
Shentong 1 神通-1 MilCom MEO 2[13]
Shentong 2 神通-2 MilCom MEO 4[13] Shentong 2-5 launched as SinoSat2E as a secrecy measure
Fenghuo 1 烽火-1 MilCom MEO 2 Launched as Sinosat 22/A as a secrecy measure

Personnel

Commander

  • Shang Hong (January 2016 – October 2022)
  • Hao Weizhong (2022 – present)

Political Commissar

  • Kang Chunyuan (January 2016 – April 2019)
  • Jiang Ping (June 2019 – August 2021)
  • Chen Hui (August 2021 – present)

References

  1. ^ "Chinese PLA embraces a new system of services and arms: Defense spokesperson - China Military". eng.chinamil.com.cn. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  2. ^ "President Xi unveils PLA's Information Support Force".
  3. ^ "Xi Focus: Xi presents flag to PLA's information support force". Xinhua. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Xi Orders China's Biggest Military Reorganization Since 2015". Bloomberg News. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  5. ^ a b "西安交大推人才培养重大改革 成立钱学森学院". 光明网. 26 December 2016. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019.
  6. ^ a b 陈怀国：〈用故事礼赞初心〉，《求是》2016年第16期
  7. ^ 张光友，曹晔，段国韬，李宝庭，高磊. "一种氧化锌纳米材料及其制备方法与应用". Google Patents. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  8. ^ "战略支援部队航天系统部试验装备物资采购局采购评审结果公示". 11 August 2016.，中国招标网，20201104112119
  9. ^ 上海市拥军优属拥政爱民模范集体和个人名单（2011-2014） Archived 2016-12-12 at archive.today，光明网，2016-07-29
  10. ^ "Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  11. ^ a b c "浙大举行皮星二号卫星任务总结会，浙江大学，2016-09-30". Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  12. ^ "Satellite Database | Union of Concerned Scientists". www.ucsusa.org. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i The International Institute For Strategic Studies (IISS) (15 February 2024). "6 Asia". The Military Balance 2024. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-032-78004-7.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Liberation_Army_Aerospace_Force