NEW ROCKET ENGINE TEST FACILITIES IN CHINA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78T05162A000200010036-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2011
• Sequence Number: 36
• Publication Date: December 1, 1971
• Content Type: REPORT

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NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC
INTERPRETATION CENTER
PHOTOGRAPHIC
INTERPRETATION
REPORT
NEW ROCKET ENGINE TEST FACILITIES
IN CHINA
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GROUP I: EXCLUDED FROM
AUTOMATIC DOWNGRADING
AND DECLASSIFICATION
DECEMBER 1971
11 PAGES
COPY NO 1,22
PIR-050/71
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New Rocket Engine Test Facilities
UTM COORDINATES
NA
GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES
See below
CATEGORY
See below
BE NUMBER
See below
COMIREX NO.
See below
US Air Target Charts, see below
NIETB NO.
See below
Feng-chou Rocket Engine Test Facility
33-56-50N 106-43-40E
USATC, Series 200, Sheet 0384-14, scale 1:200,000
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Wu-hsing Rocket Engine Test Facility
30-44-08N 120-01-36E F
USATC, Series 200, Sheet 0492-6, scale 1:200,000
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1. Two rocket engine test facilities were identified in China at Feng-chou and Wu-hsing on
photography of June and July 1971.
2. Feng-chou Rocket Engine Test Facility is located in a mountainous area in central China. It
contains two vertical test stands for testing liquid propellant rocket engines. Construction on the test
facility began in late 1965, and the test stands appeared operational early in 1970. Both test stands
show evidence of test firings. Two nearby industrial plants, constructed concurrently with the test
facility, may be large enough to produce and/or assemble rocket engines. This suggests that the function
of the test facility may be production testing of rocket engines produced in the nearby plants.
3. Wu-hsing Rocket Engine Test Facility was under construction near the coast in the vicinity of
Shang-hai. The facility includes two test buildings under construction. A vertical test stand for rocket
engines is similar to the large test stand at Feng-chou; a horizontal test cell similar to a test cell at the
Hu-ho-hao-te Solid Propellant Complex may be intended for solid propellant rocket motors. An
unidentified area near the test cell will have several small barricaded buildings typical of solid propellant
production and does not appear to be associated with liquid propellants. Upon completion, the
Wu-hsing facility may have the capability to produce and test rocket motors as well as to test rocket
the site, and some identifications at Wu-hsing are qualified because the facility was in a midstage of
construction in August 1971, the date of most recent coverage. This report contains photographs of the
test facilities, enlargements of the significant structures and areas, and drawings of the test buildings.
engines and could therefore have a research and development function.
4. A detailed description of structures at Feng-chou is limited by the absence of
Horizontal measurements of structures at Feng-chou are accurate
Feng-chou Rocket Engine Test Facility
5. Feng-chou Rocket Engine Test Facility (Figures 1 and 2) is located 112 nautical miles (nm)
west-southwest of Hsi-an in a deep narrow ravine abutting a river valley. Principal access to the test
facility is through a guarded entrance where the service road meets the valley road ro Feng-chou.
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 OZERO
BAYKAL
FENG-CHOU.
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BURMA \ NORTH~\,
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FIGURE 1. LOCATIONS OF FENG-CHOU AND WU-HSING ROCKET ENGINE TEST FACILITIES
AND SELECTED STRATEGIC INDUSTRIAL INSTALLATIONS
6. The test facility has two vertical test stands and approximately 90 supporting buildings,
including several barracks. Most of the supporting buildings are on the floor of the ravine, and the two test
stands and some associated buildings are on the eastern, less steep side of the ravine. The test facility is
not rail served, although a rail line runs through the town of Feng-chou, 5 nm to the west.
7. The facility was not present in July 1965, but construction probably began shortly after that
date. Considerable construction was present when the test facility was first observed on KEYHOLE
photography in September 1966. Most of the buildings in the facility appeared complete by December
1968.
8. Test Stand 1 (Figure 3) is the larger of the two test stands at Feng-chou. It is the oldest known
liquid test stand of Chinese design. Test Stand 1 has two sections. The high rear section probably holds
the propellant tanks and may serve as a checkout point for engines before and after testing. The front
section encloses the engine test position. Detailed dimensions of test stands 1 and 2 are shown on
Figure 3.
9. Test Stand 1 was in a midstage of construction in September 1966. The rear section of the
stand was complete by December 1967; the front section had reached its final height at that time, but
was not complete. Test stand 1 was externally complete by November 1968; the exhaust apron and
coolant water collection basins below the stand were added between December 1969 and May 1970.
The test stand was probably operational in early 1970. The surface of the exhaust apron showed
evidence of some testing in June 1971.
10. Test Stand 2 also has a higher rear section and a front section enclosing the test position.
The excavation for the exhaust trough and base of test stand 2 was present in December 1967, and the
test stand had been constructed to the firing position level by November 1968. The test stand and
exhaust trough were complete and probably operational in May 1970. Large dark stains were present on
the surface of the exhaust trough in June 1971, indicating heavy use.
(Continued p. 6)
TA IYUAN
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Industrial Plants
11. Two industrial plants (Figure 2) were constructed concurrently with the test facility and may
be associated with it. One plant is 2 nm west of the test facility and has about 35 major buildings. The
other plant is just southeast of the test facility and contains 20 major buildings. Each- plant is probably
large enough to produce and/or assemble rocket engines. The Feng-chou test facility could perform
production testing of any rocket engines produced and assembled at one or both of the nearby
industrial plants.
Wu-hsing Rocket Engine Test Facility
12. Wu-hsing Rocket Engine Test Facility (Figures 1 and 4) is being constructed in the foothills of
a low mountainous area about 25 nm north of Hang-chou and about 80 nm west-southwest of
Shang-hai. It is not rail served. The Shang-hai vicinity includes shipyards, ship design centers, and the
Naval Research Facility at Wu-hsi.
13. Construction on the test facility began between December 1969 and July 1971, when
Wu-hsing was first observed on KEYHOLE photography. Construction progressed rapidly, and the
facility was in a midstage of construction in August 1971.
14. The Wu-hsing test facility comprises several distinct areas separated by hills. The hilly terrain
of the facility and the roads which go around the hills give the test facility a unique configuration. The
main areas identifiable at present include a vertical test area for testing liquid propellant rocket engines
and a horizontal test area possibly for testing solid propellant rocket motors. Also present are a housing
area and two support areas. Although the function of a sixth area remains unidentified, the area could
possibly become involved in solid propellant production. The possible combination of rocket engine
testing and solid motor production and testing could indicate a research and development function for
the Wu-hsing facility.
15. The vertical test area contains a vertical test stand (Figure 5) and eight other buildings
complete and under construction. Two of the buildings are connected to the test stand by conduits or
covered walkways. The test stand was nearly complete externally in August 1971. It is very similar in
size and configuration to test stand 1 at Feng-chou (Figure 3). The high rear section is somewhat
smaller than that at Feng-chou. Two slightly pitched-roof structures are on the top of the Wu-hsing
stand, one next to the high rear section and one forward, over the approximate location of the test
position (Figure 5).
16. The channel or exhaust trough at Wu-hsing is more sophisticated than the one which can be
seen at Feng-chou. The Wu-hsing exhaust trough, below the level of the surrounding exhaust apron,
extends straight out from the stand before tapering down in width and angling off to the side. Thirteen
braces or conduits are positioned at intervals across the top of the trough.
17. Two propellant run tanks were observed near the top of the high rear section of the stand on
The bottom of the tanks cannot be seen, but it is probably not below
the level of the top of the front section of the stand. If the tanks the extended below top of the front
section, gravity flow problems might be introduced into the propellant feed system. The tanks,
therefore, probably have a a maximum capacity of
approximately 47,900 gallons each.
18. The horizontal test area contains a horizontal test cell (Figure 6) and two other major
buildings, one complete and one in a very early stage of construction. The test cell itself was in a late
stage of construction in August 1971. It consists of a single firing bay and a probable instrumentation
section adjoining the rear of the firing bay. A concrete block rectangular exhaust trough is north of the
firing bay.
19. The size of the firing bay and the length of the exhaust trough indicate the horizontal test cell
will be used to test solid propellant rocket motors. The firing bay of the horizontal test cell is very
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similar to the firing bay of test cell 1 at the Hu-ho-hao-te Solid Propellant Complex
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The firing bay of test cell 1 at Hu-ho-hao-te
and 25X1
the firing bay of the test cell at Wu-hsing
The 25X1
(Continued p. 9)
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exhaust trough at Wu-hsing extends from the front edge of the test cell, and the
paved exhaust trough of test cell 1 at u o ao-te is t e same length.
20. All but the very largest rocket motors, such as those used for strap-on space boosters, are test
fired in the horizontal mode, requiring large blast deflectors or lengthy exhaust troughs of the type seen
at Wu-hsing and Hu-ho-hao-te. Large rocket engines are generally tested in the vertical mode, and those
smaller rocket engines tested horizontally do not require the long exhaust trough or large blast deflector
associated with solid motor testing. For example, the distance between the front edge of the horizontal
test building for rocket engines at Peking Guided Missile Development and Production Center
Chang-hsin-tien nd the end of the associated exhaust trough
An exhaust trough the size of the one at Wu-hsing would not be needed for horizontally testing small
rocket engines.
Unidentified Area
21. The function of the long, narrow area (Figure 7) north and west of the horizontal test cell is
undetermined. In August 1971, at least 16 major buildings were observed complete or under
construction in the southern half of the area.
22. At the north end of this area were six small clearings excavated in the hillside. The portions of
the hillside between the clearings will form natural barricades for any buildings to be constructed in the
clearings. Small barricaded buildings are not generally found at rocket engine test facilities, and there
are no barricaded buildings at any other rocket engine test facility in China.
23. Small barricaded buildings are common at solid propellant plants, and solid motor production
must be considered a possible function for this area. The group of larger buildings at the southern end
of the area could possibly be for inert operations and rocket motor finishing.
24. The possibility that the horizontal test cell will be used for testing rocket motors strengthens
the possibility that the unidentified area is for solid motor production. It is standard practice in the
solid propellant industry to test rocket motors at the production site.
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MAPS OR CHARTS
Feng-chou
SAC. US Air Target Chart, Series 200, Sheet 0384-14, scale 1:200,000
Wu-hsing
ACIC. US Air Target Chart, Series 200, Sheet 0492-6, scale 1:200,000
REQUIREMENT
NPIC/IEG/SD/SIB Proiect 143321NH
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