People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force
中国人民解放军军事航天部队
Founded	19 April 2024; 18 months ago (2024-04-19)
Country	People's Republic of China
Allegiance	Chinese Communist Party
Type	Space force
Role	Space warfare
Part of	People's Liberation Army
Commanders
Commander	Lieutenant GeneralHao Weizhong [zh]
Political Commissar	Vacant
Insignia
Symbol
Flag
Sleeve Badge

People's Liberation Army
Executive departments
Central Military Commission Ministry of National Defense
Staff
Chairman of the CMC Joint Staff Department of the CMC Political Work Department of the CMC Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CMC
Services
Ground Force  Navy  Air Force Rocket Force
Arms
Aerospace Force Cyberspace Force Information Support Force Joint Logistics Support Force
Domestic troops
People's Armed Police China Coast Guard Militia Maritime Militia
Special operations forces
PLA Special Operations Forces Army Special Operations Academy
Military districts
Eastern Theater Command Southern Theater Command Western Theater Command Northern Theater Command Central Theater Command
History of the Chinese military
Military history of China
Military ranks of China
Ranks of the PLA Ground Force Ranks of the PLA Navy Ranks of the PLA Air Force Ranks of the Rocket Force Ranks of the Aerospace Force Ranks of the Cyberspace Force Ranks of the Armed Police
v t e

ThePeople's Liberation Army Aerospace Force (Chinese:中国人民解放军军事航天部队;pinyin:Zhōngguó rénmín jiěfàngjūn jūnshì hángtiān bùduì;lit. 'China people liberation army military space arm') is an arm of thePeople's Liberation Army. It was established on 19 April 2024.^[1] It is one of twoindependent space forces in the world.^[1]

The PLA Aerospace Force was established on 19 April 2024, taking control of aerospace units and assets from the simultaneously disestablishedStrategic Support Force.^[2][3] The PLAASF consolidates all the PLA's space-basedC4ISR systems, as well as administering all the existing launch sites, and all other military satellites and space assets.^[4]

The China Daily referred to it as thePeople's Liberation Army Space Force before its official English name was released.^[5][1]

The PLAASF is headquartered in theHaidian District of Beijing.

Central staff sections include:

• Staff department (参谋部)
  • Information and Communications Division (信息通信处)
• Political Work Department^[6] (政治工作部)
  • Cadre Bureau^[6](干部局)
  • Innovation Office^[7](创作室)

• Logistics Department^[7] (后勤部)
  • Engineering Construction Management Office工程代建管理办公室(创作室)
• Equipment Department (装备部)
  • Equipment Support Team^[8] (装备保障队)
• Relay Satellite Control and Management Center (中继卫星控制管理中心)
• Test Equipment and Materials Procurement Bureau (试验装备物资采购局)^[9]
• East China Office (华东办事处)^[10]
• Xichang Quality Supervision Station (西昌质量监督站)

• Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (中国酒泉卫星发射中心),MUCD: unit 63600 (a.k.a. Dongfeng Base or Dongfeng Aerospace City). Located inDongfeng Town in theEjin Banner of theAlxa League ofInner Mongolia, Jiuqian was one of the first aerospace launch facilities ever constructed in China. It is the main base for testing and launching theLong March series of rockets, as well as other missiles, various test satellites meant for low and medium orbits, application satellites, and crewed spacecraft. The base is also responsible for the mainspacecraft recovery location.
• Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (中国太原卫星发射中心): Stationed inKelan County ofXinzhou City inShanxi Province, the launch base was constructed in March 1967 under Project 3201 as a response to the breakdown of Sino-Soviet relations. The base was constructed deep in the mountains and deliberately misnamed as part of the Chinese strategy of "backing-up, concealment, and dispersion". The site mostly served as a nuclear missile site and as a detachment of Jiuqian until it was made an independent unit in January 1976. The launch center was opened to international commercial launches in the 1990s with its launch of two U.S. Iridium satellites into orbit.
• Xichang Satellite Launch Center (西昌卫星发射中心)MUCD: Unit 63790. Headquartered on the Hangtian North Road ofXichang City inSichuan Province. As of 2022 it also remotely controlled theWenchang Aerospace Launch Site inHainan Province.

• Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center (北京航天飞行控制中心): based in the Haidian district of Beijing, it is the main control center forChina's space program, including the crewedShenzhou missions. The BACC conducts launch monitoring, tracking and measurement, as well as launch recovery. It includes the China offices ofSINOSAT andInmarsat.The complex including the BACC is often called "Aerospace City" (航天城)
• China Maritime Satellite Telemetry and Control Department (中国卫星海上测控部),MUCD Unit 63680: Stationed atJiangyin City inJiangsu Province, the base was established in 1978 as the headquarter andhome port for theYuan Wang-class tracking ships, which are used to track rocket and missile launches, in particular the testing of theDongfeng series ballistic missiles andLong March rockets.
• Xi'an Satellite Telemetry and Control Center (中国西安卫星测控中心),MUCD: Unit 63750. Stationed at No. 28 Xianning East Road inXi’an City ofShaanxi Province, the base was established in September 1975 as a missile measurement and tracking base and is now the operations and control center for China Energyne and the backup control center of BACC.
• Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telemetry Technology (北京跟踪与通信技术研究所)^[11] aka BITTT: located at the Beijing Space City, it focuses on satellite communication and navigation research.

• Malan Nuclear Test Base (中国马兰核试验基地),MUCD: Unit 63650. Located at the western ends ofLop Nur and Nairenkeer Townships ofHeshuo County in theBayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture of theXinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Base 21 served as the mainnuclear launch and test site of theChinese nuclear program. The Base has not conducted nuclear weapons testing since 1996.

• Luoyang Electronic Equipment Test Center (中国洛阳电子装备试验中心),MUCD: unit 63880. Located atLuoyang in theHenan Province, Base 33 serves as themetrology and instrument measurement center of the PLAASF. It also conducts astronomical mapping and surveying. This base used to be one of the most restricted bases in China and was off limits to foreigners until the 1980s.

• China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center (中国空气动力研究与发展中心) (CARDC). located inMianyang City,Sichuan, it is the largest aerodynamic research center in China, specialized inhypersonic missile research.

• Astronaut Center of China (中国航天员科研训练中心) aka ACC: located at the Beijing Aerospace City, it is the main training and research center for the Chinese space program's astronauts.

• Astronaut Corps (中国人民解放军航天员大队): headquartered at Beijing Aerospace City, it is a directly subordinated military unit of the Aerospace Force. As of 2018 it had selected and trained 42 astronauts, and was in the process of training a third batch, which will include civilians.

• Aerospace Research and Development Center (航天研发中心):^[11]
• Project Design Research Center (工程设计研究所)^[11]

• People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force's Aerospace Engineering University (中国人民解放军战略支援部队航天工程大学): not clear what the new name will be after the April 2024 reform.

Officer ranks

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
PLA Aerospace Force v t e
			上将 Shàngjiàng		中将 Zhōngjiàng		少将 Shàojiàng				大校 Dàxiào	上校 Shàngxiào	中校 Zhōngxiào		少校 Shàoxiào		上尉 Shàngwèi		中尉 Zhōngwèi			少尉 Shàowèi

Enlisted and NCO ranks

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
PLA Aerospace Force v t e
	一级军士长 Yījí jūnshìzhǎng			二级军士长 Èrjí jūnshìzhǎng			三级军士长 Sānjí jūnshìzhǎng		四级军士长 Sìjí jūnshìzhǎng		上士 Shàngshì						中士 Zhōngshì						下士 Xiàshì						上等兵 Shàngděngbīng						列兵 Lièbīng

The PLAASF controls all of China's military satellites, as a well as theBeiDou satellite navigation system.^[12] This space force is estimated by the Military Balance 2024^[13] to be around 245 satellites, plus perhaps some dual-use civilian satellites.

As is common in all countries with significant space forces, exact data on China's military satellites' functions is hard to come by. The generic "Yaogan" name is used for military satellites, and only sometimes is the actual military designation released (like the "Jianbing" series). Often, launches are disguised and receive civilian designators, at least for a period.

In counter-sat functions, while as of 2024 the PLAASF does controlthree possibleASAT satellites, it is unlikely it has command of theSC-19 anti-satellite missiles under thePLARF control.

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(April 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• Shang Hong (January 2016 – October 2022)
• Hao Weizhong (2022 – present)

• Kang Chunyuan (January 2016 – April 2019)
• Jiang Ping (June 2019 – August 2021)
• Chen Hui (August 2021 – December 2024)

• People's Liberation Army branches
• Space units and formations
• Space warfare
• Military units and formations established in 2024
• 2024 establishments in China
• People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force
• Theater Command deputy grade units of the Armed Forces of China

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