The launch of the Pioneer I rocket on September 16 at north China's Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center makes China only the third country capable of developing such rockets, after the United States and Russia, a spokesman for China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) told Xinhua.

The rocket is capable of putting payloads of up to 100 kilogramspounds) into orbit around the earth to help with resource exploration, environmental monitoring and surveys, the spokesman said.

The announcement comes just weeks ahead of China's planned manned space mission, which is widely expected to take place next month, based on media reports.

The Xinhua report did not say whether the rocket had any connection to the launching of space flights or whether it could launch satellites for military use.

The People's Daily website said the rocket would be convenient for short-term, short notice use, such as to launch satellites to monitor sudden natural disasters or to broadcast sports events.

"Compared with powerful launch vehicles that use liquid fuel, the solid-fuel launch vehicle, popularly known as Pioneer I, requires much less preparation time to launch, and is much easier to operate," the spokesman said.

It takes 12 hours or less to prepare for the launch of a satellite using the Pioneer I rocket, whereas about three months are needed to prepare the traditional liquid-fuel launch vehicle, including the time for shipping, installation and testing, and filling it with liquid fuel.

The Pioneer I also can be launched from a mobile pad, the spokesman said.

Regardless of whether launch vehicles are used for commercial or military purposes, experts said China's capability in producing launch vehicles was posing competition for other space powers, such as the United States.

"On the commercial side, Chinese space launching capabilty presents a very competitive alternative to Americans and Europeans," said Robert Karniol, Bangkok-based Asia-Pacific editor for Jane's Defense Weekly.

"The Chinese have been launching foreign satellites for some time, and have launched about 20 to date."

Other countries are also alarmed by the potential military challenges China's space and satellite capabilities can pose for them, Karniol said.

"The Chinese military, like many militaries in other countries, have communication satellites, reconnaisance satellites, and have been developing navigation and global positioning satellites," Karniol said.

"Communication satellites significantly improve the command and control of the armed forces. Reconnaisance satellites provide imagery for military action to follow and global positioning satellites, among other things, significantly improve the guidance systems of missiles."

Karniol was unaware of the specific capabilities of the latest rocket.

Officials at the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) could not be reached for comment.

SPACE.WIRE