The payload for this mission is believed to be an experimental spaceplane.

China has a few spaceplanes in development according to reports from Chinese media and observers, but which plane is launching today has not been released -- nor has China officially confirmed a spaceplane is the payload on this mission.

A long runway located northeast of the launch site at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China’s Inner Mongolia region has been seen via Google Earth images.

The Chang Zheng 2F (also called Shenjian, or “Divine Arrow”) was originally developed for China’s human space program and has so far been used to launch all Chinese taikonauts to space.

The rocket uses two main stages, with the first stage helped by four side-mounted liquid fueled boosters.  Each stage burns highly toxic nitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine as fuel.

The rocket’s missions so far have been focused on China’s human exploration program, launching uncrewed test missions, taikonauts, and two space stations -- for which it used a slightly altered version of itself designed specifically to launch large, human station modules.

Its last crew flight was Shenzhou 11 in October 2016.

All of its missions to date have been successful.

South Launch Site 1 (SLS-1) is located within Launch Area 4 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The pad is only used to launch the Chang Zheng 2F rocket and is the only place in China that can launch humans to space.

The rocket is stacked and prepared for launch in a large, vertical building nearby before being rolled out to the launch pad.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center

Also called the Shuangchengzi Missile Test Center, Jiuquan was the first of China’s four space centers.

Located in the desert, the area was first chosen in 1958 for its remote location and military nature.

This means that rockets launched from Jiuquan must fly over land and populated areas on their way to space.

Jiuquan was the site of China’s first satellite launch in 1970 and China’s first private orbital launch in July 2019.