JINAN — Chinese rocket manufacturer, China Rocket Co Ltd, and the municipal government of Haiyang in East China's Shandong province signed a contract on Dec 2 pledging to build a 163-hectare production base for solid-propellant rockets.

The base will be able to produce 20 solid rockets annually, including Smart Dragon series carrier rockets, upon its completion, according to the company.

The production base will also offer services such as rocket assembling, testing and seaborne rocket launch for domestic and overseas aerospace companies.

The base is part of a comprehensive aerospace project currently under construction in Haiyang city. With an investment of 23 billion yuan (about $3.5 billion) and a total planned area of 1,860 hectares, the project includes an aerospace industrial park, a homeport for seaborne rocket launches, and an aerospace-themed tourist park.

In June last year, China successfully launched a Long March-11 carrier rocket from a mobile platform in the Yellow Sea off the coast of Haiyang, marking the country's first space launch from a sea-based platform. The rocket was transported from Haiyang Port to the launch site.

So far, the port has seen two successful seaborne rocket launches.