Construction of the main facilities in the launch area of the second phase of the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site was basically completed in Wenchang, south China's Hainan Province as of Saturday.
The second phase of Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site, China's first commercial spacecraft launch site, is located on the coast of suburban Wenchang City.
Covering an area of 53 hectares, the construction broke ground in January 2025.
In addition to the two launch pads and their supporting systems, such as a propellant fueling system and a gas supply system, the second phase also includes a commercial aerospace command and control center, a rocket assembly and testing building, and a tracking, telemetry and command station.
Compared with the first phase of the launch site, the second phase saw significant changes in layouts. The number of lightning protection towers has been reduced from four to three per launch pad without undermining the safety.
The overall design has also been streamlined, featuring a five-meter-tall launch pad structure and a single water tower. These optimizations have reduced both costs and construction time.
The project will now move into the equipment installation and system commissioning stage.
After completion of the second phase, Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site will be capable of conducting up to 60 launches each year. This will help to meet the growing demand for commercial space launches in China, and boost Hainan's efforts to build an innovative industrial cluster for the commercial space sector.
Hainan commercial launch site Phase II completes main construction
New research on a sacrificial zone of China's renowned Sanxingdui Ruins showed the ancient Shu Kingdom moved its political and cultural center from Sanxingdui to Jinsha in southwest China's Sichuan Province due to an unintentional fire.
Located in the city of Guanghan, the Sanxingdui Ruins are believed to be remnants of the Shu Kingdom dating back some 3,000 to 4,500 years. Two sacrificial pits were discovered in 1986, while another six were found in 2021. The core area of this site covers 3.6 square kilometers. The ruins are renowned for their large and medium-sized bronze artifacts, many of which feature striking and elaborate designs.
Yuanjiayuan, the ritual and sacrificial core of Sanxingdui, spans approximately 13,000 square meters and houses all the eight sacrificial pits. Radiocarbon dating places the area's peak activity in the late Shang Dynasty, roughly 3,200 to 3,000 years ago.
"The Yuanjiayuan sacrificial zone is the most significant archaeological discovery at Sanxingdui in recent years. It is the only fixed, high-ranking ritual space we have confirmed at the site," said Ran Honglin, a research fellow at the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.
By analyzing the shape, structure, and burial patterns of the pits alongside scientific testing of building debris, bamboo-wood ash, and damaged artifacts, the team has ruled out deliberate ritual destruction or sacrificial burning. Instead, differential damage patterns suggest a different story.
"Our research indicates that an accidental fire likely destroyed the ritual objects originally displayed in the temple. The ancient Shu people then buried the damaged items in six large pits in a specific order," Ran explained.
The varied degrees of damage support this theory. Large hollow bronze figures and bronze wine vessels were found severely fractured, while smaller solid bronze figurines and jade beads remained largely intact. Experts interpret this selective destruction as the result of collapsing architecture and falling debris, rather than intentional smashing. The fire, they believe, left the high-ranking sacrificial zone abandoned. Thereafter, the ancient Shu Kingdom shifted its political center some 40 kilometers south to the Jinsha site.
"We can confirm that the flourishing periods of Sanxingdui and Jinsha followed one another. This is supported by similarities in settlement location, internal layout, ritual remains, and the types of artifacts used at both sites. Both served as capitals of the ancient Shu Kingdom, with Jinsha emerging as the new capital after Sanxingdui," said Ran.
Research finds accidental fire prompts ancient Shu Kingdom to abandon old capital
Research finds accidental fire prompts ancient Shu Kingdom to abandon old capital
