Rocket hub Wenchang aims to turn launch-day crowds into lasting tourism and industry
Wenchang logged 21 orbital missions in 2025, up from a handful in prior years, as the coastal city in Hainan turns rocket launches into a year-round engine for aerospace and travel.
Source: Channel NewsAsia · August 31, 2026 at 9:01 AM · AI-assisted report
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WENCHANG, HAINAN, LONGLOU, QISHUI BAY, HAINAN, JIUQUAN, TAIYUAN, XICHANG, JIANGSU, MALAYSIA, 31 AUGUST 2026 —
Wenchang logged 21 orbital missions in 2025, up from a handful in prior years, as the coastal city in Hainan turns rocket launches into a year-round engine for aerospace and travel.
Market Impact
The push centres on Wenchang International Aerospace City, home to 673 aerospace companies as of April—up from 30 in 2021—and RM4.5 billion in aerospace revenue last year, more than double the RM2 billion recorded in 2022, according to official data. Authorities have set a target to become an “internationally first-class aerospace city” by 2035.
For Malaysian investors in travel, hospitality and aerospace supply chains, the scale of spending and the proximity to equatorial launch advantages make Wenchang a laboratory for how space infrastructure can reshape a regional economy.
Wenchang’s geography gives it a head start. At roughly 19 degrees north, the city sits closer to the equator than China’s inland launch sites at Jiuquan, Taiyuan and Xichang, giving rockets an extra boost from Earth’s rotation. Being coastal also lets heavy launch vehicles arrive by sea instead of overland, cutting transport costs and delays.
“Wenchang is the only place in China with both state-run and commercial launch facilities,” said Blaine Curcio, founder of space-industry consultancy Orbital Gateway.
That dual capability is now translating into launch cadence. Wenchang’s state-run and commercial sites together completed 21 orbital missions in 2025, a sharp rise from the city’s earlier sporadic schedule. The commercial pad, opened in November 2024, has accelerated activity, with six launches already in 2025 against three at the state-run site.
The uptick is drawing crowds—more than 50,000 spectators turned out for the August 10 launch, organisers said—and creating spillover demand for viewing platforms, hotels and food stalls.
For local entrepreneurs, the launches are becoming routine yet still lucrative. Huang Bodong, 24, started filming liftoffs as a hobby while in high school 30 km away. Now his Lanyue No. 1 Rocket Launch Viewing Platform books weeks in advance for launches that last only minutes. “The rocket is up and gone within minutes,” Huang said.
“But the crowd stays for hours shopping, eating and chatting.” His platform charges 180 yuan per person and offers barbecue and “space-themed” drinks.
Tourism is the most visible leg of the strategy. The city has built viewing zones along the coast and invested in hotels such as the Hilton Wenchang, which opened in 2015 in anticipation of the first launch that finally occurred in June 2016. Not all bets paid off: at Nanyang Meilihui, a commercial complex completed in 2020, most shops remain shuttered even on launch days. Yet signs of recovery are visible.
Liang Qihang, 38, whose family runs the Xingjian Seaview Hotel in Longlou, says some stalled projects are restarting while new ones break ground. “The rhythm of launches is more reliable now,” he said.
Industrial spin-offs are harder to see but are growing. Chen Huanpeng, 23, sells 3D-printed rocket models and aerospace education kits from a small studio near Longlou. Revenue covers living costs, he said, and he plans to register a company. “Five years ago you could count aerospace companies on one hand,” Chen said.
“Now we meet every week and talk about suppliers, parts and data.” Wenchang’s aerospace city hosts manufacturers of satellite components, ground stations and launch-support gear, though officials have not disclosed how many are locally owned versus branches of state champions.
The push is not without risks. On August 10, a Long March 7A rocket failed shortly after liftoff, disrupting viewing plans and reminding locals that launch schedules remain unpredictable. For Wu, 60, a resettled villager expanding her rooftop viewing deck to host tourists, the failure underscored volatility. “We must not rely on one day,” she said.
Her son, Chen Yao, 26, left Hainan for a job in Jiangsu but now hopes to return if tourism grows. “We are getting old,” Wu said. “I want him nearby.”
Academics caution that infrastructure alone does not guarantee an ecosystem. Gregg Li, professor and ambassador for NewSpace at the University of Hong Kong’s Laboratory for Space Research, said Wenchang “is not there yet, but it is becoming the base” for China’s commercial space push. Professor Xie Xiangxiang of Hainan University’s School of International Tourism and Public Administration said the city aims to link rockets, satellites, data and tourism into a single value chain.
“The goal is a complete aerospace industrial cluster,” Xie said.
For Malaysian business readers, Wenchang’s experiment shows how a single anchor infrastructure—here, equatorial launch capacity—can pull in downstream services, hospitality and light manufacturing. The city’s decision to fund an aerospace city with public capital while courting private investors offers a template for how secondary cities in emerging markets can diversify from traditional industries.