The Jiuquan Space Launch Center (JSLC) is China’s largest rocket facility and has hosted the launch of hundreds of surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and surface-to-air missiles, as well as China’s first and only missile-delivered nuclear test. [2] Construction on the center began in 1958 with Soviet assistance, and it conducted its first ballistic missile test using a Soviet R-2 in 1960. [3] JSLC was originally known in the West as Base 20, or Shuang Cheng Tzu. [4] The majority of China’s initial missiles testing and development work was conducted here up to about 1980. [5] Notable tests at JLSC Launch Complex 2 include the Dongfeng 4 intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) as well as the Dongfeng 5, China’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). [6]  JSLC is located in northwest Gansu province, and connected by railroad to the launch pads and technical centers across the border in Inner Mongolia. [7]

Jiuquan is also a civilian satellite launch site, used to launch low earth orbit (LEO) and solar synchronous orbit (SSO) satellites. [8] In March 2010 JSLC launched a Chinese Yaogan-9 surveillance satellite. [9] The China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), a subsidy of the China Aerospace and Technology Corporation (CASC), markets Jiuquan commercial launch services to international customers. [10] Jiuquan completed is first successful international mission in 1992 when it launched a Swedish corporation’s scientific satellite. [11] In 2003 Jiuquan became the first spaceport to launch a Chinese-crewed space mission. [12] In 2011 China launched a space laboratory module known as Tianggong 1 or “Heavenly Palace,” from JLSC. [13]

Sources:
[1] “Global Important Launch Pad: Jiuquan Space Launch Center [世界主要航天发射场: 酒泉卫星发射中心],” Sina Aerospace, 23 December 2009, http://mil.news.sina.com.cn.
[2] “Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre,” Jane’s Space Systems and Industry, 17 June 2011.
[3] “Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre,” SinoDefence.com, 29 October 2011, www.sinodefence.com; “Launch Sites: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center,” Great Wall Industry Corporation, www.cgwic.com.
[4] “Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre,” Jane’s Space Systems and Industry, 17 June 2011.
[5] Robert Norris, Andrew S. Burrows and Richard Fieldhouse, Nuclear Weapons Databook, Volume 5 (Boulder: Westview Press, 1994), p. 339.
[6] “Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre,” SinoDefence.com, 29 October 2011, www.sinodefence.com.
[7] “Launch Sites: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center,” Great Wall Industry Corporation, www.cgwic.com.
[8] Robert Norris, Andrew S. Burrows and Richard Fieldhouse, Nuclear Weapons Databook, Volume 5 (Boulder: Westview Press, 1994), p. 339.
[9] “Strategic Weapons Systems, China,” Jane’s Sentinel Security Assessment, 17 January 2011.
[10] “Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre,” Jane’s Space Systems and Industry, 17 June 2011.
[11] “Launch Sites: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center,” Great Wall Industry Corporation, www.cgwic.com.
[12] “Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre,” Jane’s Space Systems and Industry, 17 June 2011.
[13] “China's First Space Lab Module Tiangong-1 Blasts Off,” Xinhua, 29 September 2011, http://news.xinhuanet.com.