Jiangxi Jiangxin Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of China's Jiangxi Military Industry Group, has been selected for the construction of a new command and control vessel that will support the launch, tracking, and recovery of Chinese-developed reusable commercial space rockets.
The CNY100 million (US$14 million) engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract awarded to Jiangxi Jiangxin Shipbuilding calls for the design and construction of a vessel with an LOA of 99 metres, a beam of 17.6 metres, a design draught of 5.59 metres, and a depth of 8.1 metres.
The vessel will also be fitted with a DP2 system, Fifi1 external firefighting equipment, helicopter facilities, remote towing equipment, and advanced communication and information transmission systems.
The vessel's primary role will entail facilitating remote control of the launch and recovery of reusable rockets on behalf of state-owned commercial spaceport operator Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch (HICAL).
Jiangxi Jiangxin Shipbuilding will design and build the vessel in collaboration with the China Ship Research and Design Centre and Hainan Oite Marine Technology.