The new company, Space Solid Fuel Rocket Carrier Co. Ltd. (SSRC), will research, develop and manufacture solid propellant rockets, and market their commercial launch services.

The Machinery and Electronics Engineering Integrated Design Department and the China Space Machinery and Electronics (Group) Company in Beijing are the sponsors of the new company.

Other partners include the Space Solid Fuel Rocket Propulsion Technology Research Institute, the Controls and Electronics Technology Research Institute in Beijing, and the Chenguang (Group) Co. Ltd. in Nanjing.

The shareholding company will operate according to the modern enterprise system and the demands of the market economy reported Xinhua.

The domestically built Changzheng ("Long March") series of launchers, which have been the workhorses of the Chinese space program, are liquid propellant rockets. Production and usage of these launchers has been managed under a joint military and industry partnership.

The reason for establishing a shareholding company is to transform a military and industrial based operation into a civil space operation and utilization, thereby increasing the operational efficiency while stimulating competition in the Chinese civil space market.

Yin Xingliang, President of SSRC said: "Under the planned economy system, government finances all enterprises. They spend the nation's money. If there is a launch failure, there isn't a significant financial impact to the [rocket launching] enterprise and its employees.

"Now when each segment [in the rocket launching enterprise] invests its own money, a launch failure means a financial loss to the company. Each shareholder will try its best to prevent problems so as to maximize profits."

The solid propellant rocket, SLV-1, that will be developed is based on the technology of the Dongfeng ballistic missile.

Unlike a liquid propellant rocket which requires storage facilities for liquid propellants and complex ground support for propellant loading at the launch centre, loading of solid fuel and oxidizer can be prepared before arriving at the launch site.

SLV-1 can meet the request of the customer to launch a small satellite in as little as 12 hours. The launch equipment is mobile and can be moved to a plain, a mountainous area, a sea-launching platform, and an airplane. The launch service will target satellites that are under 300kg.

Yin said that micro sats could be used in telecommunications transmission, meteorological observations, resources surveys, disaster prediction, exploration and mapping, and satellite positioning.

SSRC intends to compete in both domestic and foreign satellite launching markets. The company believes that solid propellant rockets offer a lower cost of access to space, and opening a new commercial opportunity for China's space industry.

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