The Long March 11 carrier rocket blasts off from a mobile launch platform in the Yellow Sea off the eastern province of Shandong on June 5. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/chinadaily.com.cn]

China plans to start building the first home port for seaborne space launches this year, a project that aims to facilitate more frequent and more systematic launches.

The home port is to be built in Yantai, a coastal city in East China's Shandong province with an ideal location and solid industrial manufacturing industry.

Along with the home port, the project will feature several research and manufacturing centers for rockets, satellite playload facilities and maritime launch platforms.

It will also establish a center developing applications to put satellite data into wider use.

It is expected that the home port, as well as the corresponding research centers, will encourage the development of the intelligent manufacturing, logistics equipment, energy equipment, aerospace materials and space tourism industries.

China conducted its first seaborne space launch in June in its territorial waters in the Yellow Sea.