WUXING (WU-HSING) MISSILE PROPULSION R&D CENTER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T00556A000100140001-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 27, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 1, 1979
• Content Type: REPORT

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Top Secret
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basic Imagery iaterprotation report
Wuxing (Wu-hsing) Missile
Propulsion R&D Center (S)
STRATEGIC WEAPONS INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES
PRC
Top Secret
DECEML ? 1J79
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Wuxing (Wu-hsing) Missile Propulsion Research and Development. Center
UTM COORDINATES GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES CATEGORY BE NO COMIRt NO
1. (TSR) Imagery-derived analysis of the Wuxing (Wu-hsing) Missile Propulsion Research and De-
velopment Center, People's Republic of China (PRC), indicates that the center, when operational. may he
involved in the development and testing of a follow-on space-launch vehicle to the CSS-X-4/(-SL-2 missile
system (a two-stage liquid-propellant vehicle). The follow-on vehicle would probably be configured with a
liquid-propellant rocket engine and solid-propellant booster motors. The observation of type M propellent
vehicles at one of the liquid-propellant storage buildings suggests that the CSS-X-4/CSL_-2 is associated
with the rocket engine test stand. The recent construction of four composite propellant hatch-mix build-
ings, each capable of holding vertical mixers with a maximum 300-gallon capacity. also suggests that the
rocket motor development area in the northwest portion of the center may become involved in the
development and production of composite propellant booster motors for a new vehicle. However, the
current lack of casting/curing, finishing, and assembly buildings in relation to the potential propellant mix
capacity of the plant suggests either that the program is in its infancy with the necessary support facilities
forthcoming or that the center will only be involved in the developmental phase and not in series pro-
duction of the motors.
2. (U) This report updates the previous NPIC report I dated November 1972, and 25X1
describes changes observed in each of the areas at the facility. Five annotated photographs, one map, and
four tables are included in this report.
3. (TSR) The Wuxing Missile Propulsion Research and Development (R&D) Center is in the foot-
hills of a low mountainous area, 9 nautical miles (nm) south of Wuxing, 25 nm north of Hangzhou (Hang-
chou), and about 80 nm west-southwest of Shanghai (Shang-hai: Figure 1). This facility consisted of six
functional areas-a rocket engine test area (including propellant storage), a rocket motor test area, a
rocket motor development area, a development and test support area, a utility support area, and it housing
area (Figure 2).
4. (TSR) Observations at Wuxing indicate that when the center becomes operational. it may be
involved in the development and testing of a follow-on space-launch vehicle to the ('SS-X-4/CSL-2,
configured with a liquid-propellant rocket engine and strap-on, composite propellant booster motors. In a
recent visit by a PRC delegation to it National Aeronautical Space Administration facility, the Chinese
expressed a desire to develop an indigenous, space-launch booster motor capability and demonstrated a
great interest in specifics on the Delta-class rocket.' The Delta contains a two-stage., liquid-propellant
rocket engine with solid-propellant, strap-on booster motors. The collocation of a liquid-propellant rocket
engine test area with a composite propellant rocket motor development and test area make the center a
suitable facility for the development of such a vehicle.
5. (TSR) The significant expansion of both the composite propellant mix capability and the housing
and support areas in association with the testing capability of the horizontal test cell suggests the possibil-
ity that composite propellant booster motors may be fabricated in the rocket motor development area of
the Wuxing facility. In addition, the presence of type M propellant vehicles, which are associated with the
CSS-X-4/CSL-2 missile system, indicated that a CSS-X-4/CSL-2-class engine may have been tested at the
vertical test stand.
6. (TSR) Other installations which may be related to the Wuxing Missile Propulsion R&D Center
are Sonjiang (Sung-chiang) Guided Missile Production Plant approximately 65 nm
northeast of the center, and the Shanghai Guided Missile Production Plant Minhang (Min-hang, BE
approximately 75 nm northeast of the center.' A rail transloading area. under construction
2.5 nm north-northwest of the center, may serve as a rail-to-road transfer point. These facilities are
connected by all-weather roads to the Wuxing installation.
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Rocket Engine Test Area
7. (TSR) Construction on the vertical test
stand appeared to be nearly complete in August
1979. The roadway serving the vertical test stand
was being surfaced with concrete. The area around
the test stand has been cluttered continually and
since November 1973, two large, discarded, possi-
ble run tanks have been on the ground behind the
test stand. The large construction crane had been
dismantled with the lattice boom sections stacked
in the clearing to the rear of the test stand.
8. (TSR) The activity level associated with
the vertical test stand indicates that the test stand
may have been operational since 1973 in spite of its
unfinished appearance. Evidence that the test stand
may have been operational was provided on several
occasions by the presence of type M propellant
vehicles and type D propellant kegs at the two
propellant storage buildings (items 6 and 18, Fig-
ure 3 and Table 1). Type M 1Dropellant vehicles
were observed next to the northern propellant stor-
age building (item 18) on two occasions, in Octo-
ber 1973 and February 1974, and possibly on a
third occasion in August 1979. Type M propellant
vehicles were observed in front of the five-bay
garage in the utility support area in November
1977, August 1978, and August 1979. During the
same time period, unusual fluctuations of the water
Top Secret RUFF
level in the test stand exhaust trough were ob-
served, indicating that the deluge system had prob-
ably been used. The presence of the propellant
vehicles, which are associated with the CSS-X-
4/CSL-2 missile system, along with the water level
fluctuations indicated that a CSS-X-4/CSL-2-class
engine may have been tested at the vertical test
stand. Burn marks, rocket engines, or rocket en-
gine dollies have not been identified at the vertical
test stand.
9. (TSR) Type D propellant kegs have been
seen on numerous occasions on the parking apron
adjacent to the southern liquid-propellant storage
building (item 6, Figure 3 and Table I ). Although
no definite missile system association has been
established for the type D keg, the simultaneous
observations of the type D kegs and the type M
vehicles at Wuxing in October 1973, November
1977, and again in August 1979 indicate that the
type D kegs and the CSS-X-4/(_'SL-2 engine may
be associated.
Rocket Motor Test Area
10. (TSR) The rocket motor test area was the
first area at Wuxing to he externally complete
(April 1972). By October 1973, an in-plant rail spur
connected the test cell to the test article prepara-
(Continued p. 6)
SHANGHAI
GUIDED MISSILE
PRODUCTION PLANT
MINHANG
SONJIANG
GUIDED MISSILE
PRODUCTION PLANT
- ROAD
- ---I- RAILROAD
0
NAUTICAL MILES
~'P/C ii5-8031 1
1
120o30'
1
121?00'
1
121?30'
-2-
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Table 1
Rocket Engine Test Area (Keyed to Figure 3)
This table in its entirety is classified TOP SECRET R UFF
Item Description
Dimensions*
(m)
W
1 Prob storage bldg
a
b
2 Support bldg
a
b
c
d
3 South liquid-propellant storage bldg
a
b
4 Type D propellant kegs
(approx diam)
5 Pumphouse
6 North liquid-propellant storage bldg
a
b
7 Cylindrical storage tank
8 Propellant line
9 Vertical test stand
10 Crane foundation
11 Crane lattice boom sects
12 Poss discarded run tanks (2)
13 Prob high pressure gas storage bldg
(temporary roof)
14 Test support bldg
15 Control & instrumentation bldg
16 Propellant line
17 Pumphouse
18 Liquid-propellant storage bldg
19 Prob deluge water storage bldg
20 Instrumentation bldg
21 Instrumentation bldg
22 Test support bldg
23 3 cylindrical storage tanks
*Dimensions, except where given, are contained in NPIC report
dated Nov 1972.
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tion building (items 2, 3, and 5, Figure 4). No hot-
fire rocket motor testing has been confirmed at this
cell; however, in April 1978, four probable test
article dollies were on the in-plant rail spur, and a
discoloration, possibly a faint blast mark, extended
approximately 25 meters from the edge of the test
cell.
Rocket Motor Development Area
11. (TSR) The most significant development
at Wuxing since November 1972 has been the
construction of four composite propellant batch-
mix buildings (items 32-35, Figure 5 and Table 2),
two associated mix control buildings (items 36 and
37), and a probable radiographic test/finishing
building (item 31) in an area adjacent to and
northwest of the original rocket motor develop-
ment area. Excavations and site preparations for
the new buildings were first observed in September
1975. A two-year hiatus in activity then followed
with construction resuming in late 1977.
12. (TSR) The new batch-mix buildings
closely resemble a reconstructed batch-mix build-
ing at Hohhot (Hu-ho-hao-te) Solid Propellant
Complex in northeast China.3
Both the Wuxing and the Hohhot mix buildings are
12.5 by 11.1 meters overall with the high-bay
portion of the Wuxing buildings being
high; the Hohhot mix building is F high.
The Hohhot Complex is comparable in layout and
function to the Thiokol Chemical Corporation
Wasatch Division, near Brigham City, Utah.' The
mixl buildings at the Thiokol plant, high, 25X1
contain 300-gallon (40.11 cubic feet) vertical mix-
ers. The minimum interline distance between the
mix buildings at Wuxing is more than 25X1
sufficient for the 4,400-pound propellant capacity
of 300-gallon mixers. The similarities observed
among the new,mix buildings at Wuxing and the
mix buildings at Hohhot and the Thiokol Plant
suggest the possibility of vertical mixers in these
buildings with a capacity of at most 300 gallons.
13. (TSR) A comparison of the casting/cur-
ing capacity at Hohhot and at Wuxing, however,
indicates that Wuxing in its present configuration
lacks a casting/curing capacity sufficient to handle
its propellant mix potential. The two buildings
(items 2 and 3, Figure 5), which have been
identified as having a probable casting/curing
function, contain an estimated floorspace of 875
square meters. An estimated casting capacity for
Hohhot at the time of the reconstruction of its mix
building is 4,300 square meters. Because cas-
tingl/curing facilities are generally positioned near
propellant mix buildings, a possible location for a
casting building (item 38, Figure 5) to accommo-
date the mix potential at Wuxing would be along
the loop access road to the new mix area.
14. (TSR) In addition, separate areas at the
Hohhot complex have been identified for compo- 25X1
nent fabrication and assembly and for rocket 25X1
motor finishing and inspection. These functions
are I necessary for a complete series production
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Table 2
Rocket Motor Development Area (Keyed to Figure 5)
T
lu, ma
le ui d, oirve/L i, laa TOP SP( Ri T P( Ti
Dimensions
Dim
i
It
em
Description
(m)
Item
ens
ons
Description
(m)
Item
Dimensions
Description (m)
I
Office support bldg
14
Lab procesng bldg
a
13
Igrcdients pre
bld
25
Prob fuel binder prep bldg
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p
g
26
Prob components assem storage bldg
Prob casting curing bldg
b
a
c
16
3S"arehouse
b
Prob components assem storage bldg
Prob casting curing bldg
P
Lab support bldg
a
18
Lab support bldg
b
4
b
Prob mandrel prep bldg
a
33
29
Prob bks (3 stories)
Support bld
5.6
1
tike bldg
Mix support bldg
b
c
30
a
g
Lab processing bldg
19
Prob case prep bld
8
a
b
Poss small motor finishing bld
a
b
g
b
a
Prob radiographic test finishing bldg
9
g
Prob ingredients storage bldg
c
b
20
Inert operations bldg
10
Poss small batch test bldg
21
Support bld
a
g
32-35
Balch-mix bldgs
b
22
23
'rob propellant premix bldg
Prob oxidizer pre
bld
a
I
Assem processing bldg
p
g
b
a
a
c
b
b
c
36, 3'
Mix control bldgs
12
Support bldg
24
38
Pos future location of castin
13
Lab processing bldg
a
b
Prob oxidizer prep storage bldg
g
curing area
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Ta ale 3
St uctures in Support Areas (Keyed to Figure 6)
Th. table in its entirety is lassiJied TOP SECRET RC FE
Ite r Description
Dimensions
(m)
'V
Ho using Area
1-) Apartment bldgs (4 stories
10 Prob garage
11 Barracks (2 stories)
12 Utility support bldg
13 Support bldg
14 Prob s~orkshop bldg
1
15 Barracks (3 stories)
16- -18 Barracks (3 stories)
19 Messhall
20 Barracks (3 stories)
Ut ity Support Area
21 Garage
F GVorkshed
22 Office bldg
23 Vertical tanks (2)
24 Vertical tank
25 Shop bldg
l
26 Support bldg
27 Support bldg
28 1\ arehouse
29 Warehouse
Item Description
30 Support bldg
a
b
31 Prob warehouse (ucon)
32 Shop bldg
33 Construction support bldg
34 Support bldg
a
b
35 Support bldg
36 warehouse
a
b
37 Support bldg
38 Support bldg
39 Support bldg
a
b
40 Steamplant
41 Garage
a
b
Development and Test Support Area
42 Larehouse
43 Prob components storage bldg
44 Prob components assem bldg
45 Lab processing bldg
a
b
46 Prob lab support bldg
47 Quarters'admin bldg
48 Electrical substation
49 Officei support bldg
a
b
Dimensions
(m)
w
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program. Similar facilities of sufficient capacity to
support the propellant mix potential at Wuxing
have not been identified.
Support Areas
15. (TSR) All of the support areas have been
expanded significantly since November 1972. The
construction of processing, assembly, warehouse,
and office buildings has more than doubled the
amount of available floorspace in the development
and test support (formerly warehouse) area and in
the utility support area (Figure 6). Since November
1972, the addition of nine multistory apartment
buildings (items 1-9, Figure 6 and Table 3) and
two multistory barracks (items 11 and 15) has
nearly tripled the amount of housing floorspace,
making approximately 13,800 square meters avail-
able.
Imagery Analyst's Comments
16. (TSR) The role of the Wuxing R&D
Center in the PRC missile/space launch program
remains unclear. The Wuxing center is unusual in
that a liquid-propellant rocket engine test area is
collocated with a solid-propellant rocket motor
development and test area. Although no missile
system has been firmly associated with Wuxing, the
vertical test stand is capable of testing rocket
engines of first-stage ICBM or space-booster size.'
The horizontal test cell is similar in size and
configuration to test cell one at Hohhot.5 Because
first-stage, submarine-launched, ballistic missile
motors have been tested at Hohhot test cell 1, the
Wuxing horizontal test cell should be capable of
testing motors of at least that size.
17. (TSR) The presence of the type M
propellant trucks in the rocket engine test area, as
previously mentioned, indicates a possible CSS-X-
4/CSL-2 missile system association. Further sup-
port for an ICBM/space launch function for
Wuxing is the existence of two known CSS-X-
4/CSL-2 facilities in the Shanghai area, approxi-
mately 80 nm northeast of the Wuxing R&D
Center.2 At the Sonjiang Guided Missile Pro-
duction Plant, road transporters for the first and
second stages of the CSS-X-4/CSL-2 missile sys-
tem have been observed intermittently from July
1971 to the present. Missile rail transporters for
the CSS-X-4/CSL-2 were first seen in August 1978
at Shanghai Guided Missile Production Plant
Minhang, and both CSS-X-4/CSL-2 missile rail-
cars and road transporters were present at the
plant in May 1979. Both of these installations are
connected by improved all-weather roads with the
Wuxing R&D Center (Figure 1).
18. (TSR) Associating Wuxing only with the
CSS-X-4/CSL-2, however, would not account for
the presence of the composite propellant capability
at the R&D center. An hypothesis which accom-
modates both the solid and liquid capabilities is
that the Wuxing Center, when fully operational,
will be involved in the development of a follow-on
space launch vehicle to the CSS-X-4/CSL-2, which
would be configured with a liquid-propellant
rocket engine and strap-on, solid-propellant rocket
booster motors.
19. (TSR) The expansion of the propellant
mix, housing, and support areas at Wuxing sug-
gests that a new or modified missile/space launch
vehicle is under development. But, the fact that
construction has not yet begun on a casting/curing
building capable of accommodating the propellant
mix potential implies that the program is in its
infancy. Initiation of construction of additional
casting/curing facilities would then be an indica-
tion that the development program is well under-
way.
20. (TSR) Another possibility, however, is
that the rocket motor development area will only
be involved in the developmental phase of the
booster motors and not in series production. In
this case, the existing casting/curing facilities
(items 2 and 3, Figure 4) may be sufficient to
handle the additional mix capacity provided by the
four new batch-mix buildings. The four new mix
buildings may be necessary to insure that a
sufficient amount of propellant mix is available
when a specific size rocket motor is being cast.
Additional support for this theory is the current
lack of sufficient fabrication, assembly, finishing,
and storage buildings to sustain series production
of the motors.
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(TSR All applicable KEYHOLE imagery from
MAPS OR CHARTS
ACIC. US Air Target Chart, Series 200, Sheet 0492-6, scale 1:200,000 (UNCLASSIFIED)
DMA. Series ONC, ed 1, Sheet H-12B, scale 1:500,000 (UNCLASSIFIED)
1. CIA. FIR-321/00565-79, Intelligence Information Report, Apr 79 (CONFIDENTIAL)
2. NPIC. PIR-042/78, Probable Space-Launch Association of Shangh-hai
plex, PRC (S), Oct 78 (TOP SECRET
5. NPIC. RCA-09/0024/73, Wu-hsing Missile Propulsion Research and Development Facility (Wu-
hsing Rocket Engine Test Facility), Nov 72 (TOP SECRET
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COMIREX J02
Project 290007DJ
Asian Forces Division, Imagery Exploitation Group, NPIC,I
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