PROBABLE LOCATION OF CHINESE SPUTNIK LAUNCHING SITE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP61-00391R000200220009-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 10, 1998
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: August 22, 1958
• Content Type: MF

Approved For Re pRS imQQ 918000200220009-6
22 Aug 1958
"" 25X6A
1. Recent reports from, d?p arsaw and Wre the latest of a
D/GG/F
25X1A9a
MEMORANDUM FOR: Dcpuc.y Director (Intelligence)
SUBJECT: Probable Location of Chinese Sputnik Launching Site
indicating that the Soviet Union has d g6ided to cooperate wick'Communist
China in launchinj^'an earth satite. Considering thifnews in the light
of geographic research cu lently being done on pos ble guided missile
ranges iz Communist ina, it is possible to d elop a geographic estimate
ry
of the probabl'e' locale of a Chinese earth tellite vehicle launching.
7
2. Soviet cooperation fe ~z~?~ xs le Ica r III Pnnug]a..-; o launch *a,
d~
earth satellite into orbit would likely it Soviet personnel, Soviet
missiles, Soviet launching equipme'~rc, and Soviet supporting equipment.
expected to be m
A ~.'~. J,4 . A A7'
three previousjputniks i~^at Tyura Tam.
Cj tv" f t' ft
A transplanted Sputnik may be
propelled
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 Assuming thatA# ais w i J 1..~= perf ormance, Soviet cooperation
Sov;,ct mobile train developed for the
operational deployment of ICBM missiT.esA I
fl r
is estimated that t j Soviet
ICBM mobile train ? 1, e'er capable of transporting 70- to
All, 0
` .tea Gti
110-foo
lou missiles, possibly four, or more large and heavy 60-foot liquid
en transporter
per missile, a nuriiber of tank cars of liquid
fuels, as many as 10 or 13 power geneiFator cars weighing as much as 113 torts
each, and an indeterminate number of
Soviet specialized train move
into the country on Soviet wide,-gauge tracks. Beyond the gauge-change points
at Manchouli or ui-fen-ho a mobile unchin
]~ g train would have to be X-4r;I d..
would have to be transferred to
track would be a difficult task. On ie newly-completed Trans-Mongolian
railroad, however, the gauge change at Chi-nng is well within the Chinese
constriction of a permanent ICBM launching baser
o stan?ard gauge, or the equipment on the train
Chines rolling stock. Even if this were done,
ovement of the heavy launching train over low capacity stretches of Chinese
border.
Reasonably level terrain 4VIR Anecessary for the development of
rail spurs t ce the, tit, launching area and the mobile launching
0,14
In only one area of China proper can
iaAj- DP61-00 391 R000200220009-6
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mpar ng ma
o p uggests, t-""Fiis e
des... i en~ve
h...t'it' are.....w.
com r `~
ornarrow ever veya,,, The steppes of Inner Mongolia north of
Peiping 'r i the terrain requirements w@iio they are level to
rolling, short-grass covered plains,^am__-__ to to wort
6,`f' The hazard t lpopulation in the vicinity of the launch site is high
A I
within a radius of 25 miles and for an even greater distance around the missile
booster impact area -- about 230 to U0 miles downrange.
areas east of.a line connecting Harbin Peiping, Ch`enms-to e too
et g g~
J IV po dated to ICBM er It missile launchings . In order to conform to
Y - wx
established Soviet instrumentation in the northeast, it is probable that the
'Vj L4,
ChineseSr%
i44- be launched in a northeasterly direction. ea 4- ,..
m a,
+~,P ._,~.the hazard of a missile booster impact .~.~...~.~,- rules out possible launch areas
in northern Manchuria. The booster impact area of a launching from the
Chi-ning -- Pang-chiang area, on the other hand, would fall in sparsely
populated areas.
Other launching criteria show similar locational indications. Low
precipitation and wind speeds in the Chi-ning area are advantageous for
launching operations. Wireline facili'bies along the Trans-M ngolian railroad
are available for communications links between Peiping and the site, as well as
for instrumentation support between the site, Ulan Ude and down-range
0
instrumentation points to the northeast. Ad hoc radio communications
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 Approved For Rele pse 2001/08/09 : CIA- 61- 0391 R000200220009-6
L-M r -1 L. I
arrangements, of course, might well supplement the land-line links. Security
precautions would also be more easily enforced, while at the same time the
location remains relatively accessible from Peiping -- a little more than
200 air-miles away.
m .A
The operational requirements of a Soviet-sponsored Chinese earth
d? r v
lam '
"C a ,;4 r a,.,
satellite missile launching within the next few months
A
t
the invariables of Chinese geography_tL"vv9=e suggest the strong possibility
of a launching in the Mongolian steppe northwest of Peiping
make its
ib
Sputnik a ng.. ra .l-d: follow the
Chine? bli'tms~ll testa .trains
Sovi s have b
en ab to trantrt an ICBM over 700 miles of Soviet rail Y Or- '0 - e
lie to Ch'ha, et it and fire it.
outheast Asia and Austr'iia"4rould be within the IC maximum
nautical miles on a grab-circle route from the viet Far East.