The launch of a rocket is a magnificent, mesmerizing scene. Ignition and liftoff take no more than dozens of seconds with a rumbling roar. In just two minutes, the rocket becomes too small to see with the naked eye, and the white smoke trailing the rocket is the only thing left in the sky.
In China, there are four major satellite launch centers, each based in Jiuquan, Xichang, Taiyuan, and Wenchang, respectively. Thanks to its unique location, Wenchang attracts a large number of tourists and aerospace enthusiasts who spectate or capture rocket launches there.
At 11:06 am February 27, 2022, the Long March-8 Y2 carrier rocket took off from Wenchang. It was the first launch from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in 2022, and it set a record, with a total of 22 satellites sent into space by a single rocket in China.
In Online Gallery Vol. 118, we witnessed the historic launch with SpaceLens, a group of about 50 young aerospace photographers, mostly students. Through photography, SpaceLens is committed to letting more people know more about China"s aerospace science and seek a career as a "rocket runner".
Quit to chase after rockets
"This is the first time I"ve ever watched a rocket launch indoors," says Xie Jixiao as he stared out of the window—at a distance of several kilometers, the Long March-8 Y2 carrier rocket blasted off vertically and later disappeared from view.
No countdown to the launch. No cheering crowds. The two in the room were quiet. He then fixated his eyes on the monitor, spectating the remainder of the launch on livestream. The livestream was a success. The camera followed the rocket until the rocket was invisible.
Many major media outlets livestreamed the launch on the Internet. TMTPost Huanan Livestream also held a featured program of "Top 10 Exhilarating Live Broadcasts of 2022 - First Launch from Wenchang". Many media outlets, including TMTPost, chose to use SpaceLens" real-time camera feeds for their livestreams.
"We have many opportunities in the future," Xie consoles his friend. "The most important thing is to inspire the general public to watch the rocket launch."
The rocket took off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site, the fourth space launch site in China following the ones in Jiuquan, Xichang, and Taiyuan. The construction of the site was completed in 2014.
Due to safety concerns and other issues, the previous space launch sites were built in isolated places, far away from cities and crowds.
The Wenchang Space Launch Site is located in Longlou, a town 27 km away from Wenchang downtown. It is just a 30-minute drive from the center of Wenchang to the launch site via the coastal road called "Aerospace Avenue." Such convenience, in addition to the favorable weather, attracts more and more people to Longlou, where they watch rocket launches.
Tourists at the beach watch a rocket launch
Born in 1999, a recent graduate from Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, Xie is an avid photography enthusiast. In early 2020 or his junior year as an advertising major, Xie saw a video posted by a blogger about how they shot photos in the Wenchang Space Launch Site. It was then when Xie realized that "people are allowed to watch a rocket launch on-site"—he decided to do it in person.
On July 23, 2020, by himself, he brought 4 cameras and equipment that weighed more than 60 kilograms to Longlou, where he captured the launch of the Tianwen-1 spacecraft. In November, he captured the launch of Chang"e 5 and Long March-8 Y1.
In March 2021, the Tianhe core module was reported to be launched in April. Tianhe was the initial mission for the construction of China"s space station. It was of great significance to China"s aerospace industry.
At the time, Xie had interned at a company in Beijing for three months. To prepare for the shooting of Tianhe, he decided to quit the job.
"The launch of a rocket is an exhilarating scene, but the photos and videos on the Internet mostly lack fidelity and angles," said Xie. He believes that there is a gap of spacecraft photography on the Internet. "Most photos about rocket launches were shot from a journalistic perspective rather than an aesthetic and professional one."
On Bilibili, Xie"s photographic coverage of Tianwen-1 and Chang"e 5 garnered more than 70,000 and 260,000 views, respectively. Still, he felt that being fixated on a single spot had many restrictions. "Photos taken from different widths, locations, and angles can be entirely different," Xie tells Online Gallery. "So I thought maybe I should invite a few photographers to capture a rocket launch from multiple locations—we are going to take brilliant photos!"
Before long, Xie wrote a joint shooting proposal and invited three fellow photographers to be the co-founders of the initiative.
They tried to recruit volunteer photographers on Weibo and received over 100 applications. "Eventually, we set up seven camera locations and 35 photographers within less than 350 meters above sea level, from Tonggu Mountain all the way to Hilton Beach," wrote Xie in a Weibo post.
On April 29, 2021, the Tianhe core module was launched into space. On the next day, Xie posted a video of the launch. Composed of footage from different camera locations and angles, the video combined elements like a fast highlight reel, crowd reactions, and synced-to-the-beat background music. It garnered 660,000 views on Bilibili and was shared by state-owned media outlets, including Xinhua News Agency and China Space Station.
After the shooting of Tianhe, they realized that what they did was more than a joint shooting. "Through aerospace photography, more people will pay attention to the aerospace industry," says Xie.
They created an account called SpaceLens on social media platforms and considered themselves an aerospace science "we-media" outlet. A month later, they came up with a Chinese name, 云上天镜 (Sky Lens Above Clouds).
SpaceLens sets up a volunteer service booth on the beach
Within less than a year, SpaceLens traversed beaches, deserts, and mountains to capture 10 liftoffs at three space launch sites in China. The number of core members of SpaceLens has grown from four to 20.
A delayed launch results in 10 days of restless waiting
Starting from mid-February, Wenchang had been forecasted to be hit by a cold wave, accompanied by rain and mist. Weather is the most unpredictable factor. On February 24, the shooting of rocket transportation was disrupted by bad weather.
"There are two major stages when it comes to capturing a rocket—when it launches and when it is being transported," Xie tells Online Gallery.
Currently, Wenchang has two vertical assembly plants and two launch complexes, 101 and 201, compatible with the heavy-lift rocket Long March-5 and medium-lift rockets Long March-7 and Long March-8, respectively. The two plants share the same tracks connected to the launch complexes. There are four 60-degree turns, "which is rarely seen worldwide," on the way to the 201 launch complex, a SpaceLens photographer tells Online Gallery.
For photographers, the transportation of a rocket is its "debut" and an opportunity for capturing nice photos. The assembly plant is about 2.8 km away from the launch tower. The transportation of a rocket may take 2 to 4 hours, during which photographers can capture more details about the rocket up close.
To capture the transportation of the Long March-8 Y2 carrier rocket, Xie rallied about 20 photographers to set up cameras at numerous locations along the transportation route. The transportation started at 8 o"clock. Yang Kunye, a member of SpaceLens, had set up a camera by the side of the farmland in Chuntao Village, only a few kilometers away from the assembly plant. In the foreground was the farmland with cattle standing idly, a sharp contrast to the rocket and assembly plant in the distance.
Long transportation is often captured in a time-lapse format. Depending on the focal length, the camera takes photos continuously at intervals of 2 to 6 seconds. To record the 4-hour transportation in full would take 2,400 to 7,200 photos.
"All you need to do is to set up the camera and wait," said Yang. He enjoyed the time-lapse shooting. When the entire rocket was out of the assembly plant, he took a photo of the banner below the rocket and sent it to the group. The slogan on the banner read: 牢记嘱托打胜仗，山海问天满堂红 (Always remember the instructions, a successful launch we shall have).
For the first hour, the rocket was clearly visible. After that, a lot of mist kicked up, cloaking the rocket with "optic camouflage." With the rocket disappearing from all the cameras, Yang had no choice but to give up shooting. By the time the transportation was nearly completed at 11 am, the launch tower several kilometers away was barely visible.
Xie Jixiao observes the launch tower through the camera viewfinder
"This is the worst weather I"ve ever seen in my career." Xie decided to abort the plan of time-lapse shooting. Instead, he posted several photos on the Internet to showcase the transportation.
The biggest challenge in capturing a rocket, apart from the weather, is the uncertainty of the launch. In fact, the delay or even cancellation of a rocket launch is not uncommon around the world. Whether a rocket will launch or not is often not determined until the last minute.
"The launch of Tianzhou 2 was postponed twice," recalls Xie, "I waited ten whole days that time."
The Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft was the second mission during China"s space station construction stage. Its launch was also SpaceLens" second joint shooting after establishment. The construction of China"s space station has always been a trending topic on the Internet. The launches of spacecraft have drawn a lot of attention. Many media outlets, including CCTV, were livestreaming the launch of Tianzhou 2—this made the two postponements even more surprising.
To capture this launch, which was previously scheduled at 1 am May 20, SpaceLens rallied forty photographers and set up cameras along the beach, at the mountaintop, and even at a boat 5 nautical miles away from shore.
The first postponement came less than an hour before the launch. Xie noticed that the three-floor launch structure had only one floor opened. "In normal cases, all three floors should have been opened, showing the entire rocket." Just as suspected, they were notified that "the launch has been postponed"—the photographers had to leave for the time being.
The next day, Xie was notified that "the launch will resume" and "one day later than originally scheduled". He assembled his fellow photographers at once. Just when everyone finished preparations again, the news of postponement came for the second time. The launch schedule became a mystery.
The postponements had thoroughly disrupted the shooting plans. In such a situation, most of the photographers chose to give up. Xie and several others were the only ones who stayed. At last, Tianzhou 2 was confirmed to be launched on the 29 with the Long March-7 Y3 carrier rocket. In a rush, SpaceLens supplemented photographers via the Internet and, at long last, wrapped up the shooting effectually.
He rallies 60 photographers for Long March-8 Y2
After the shooting of Tianzhou 2, Xie decided to set up a SpaceLens office in Longlou. Across a muddy field, he found the highest apartment building in the neighborhood, merely a few kilometers away from the rocket launch tower—look out of the window, and there it was.
The scene through the window of the SpaceLens office
It was a retirement apartment building. Most residents were seniors. Each of the studio apartments had an area of 30 square meters. The sole room was used as the bedroom, living room as well as dining room. There were also a kitchen and a bathroom. Most apartments were minimally furnished. There was a notice in the elevator that warned the residents of possible elevator malfunctions.
Xie rent the easternmost apartment on the eighth floor for 800 yuan per month. He replaced the dark-painted iron door with a white one with a smart lock installed. With the lighted sign "SpaceLens" hung on the front, the new door stood in sharp contrast to the old corridor.
Eventually, the renovation cost a total of 20,000 yuan. The old walls were repainted. The wiring and the kitchen were redesigned. A windowsill desk was custom-made to be used as a workbench for livestreaming and shooting. There were a bunk bed attached to the wall, and a table and a sofa in the middle of the room. A camera was installed outside the window facing the launch tower—the members could check the weather conditions nearby the launch tower at any time.
Seven days prior to the launch of the Long March-8 Y2 carrier rocket, Xie and two other members of SpaceLens, Yang Kunye and Yu Jiawei, arrived at Longlou for preparations.
To capture the launch, they recruited 60 photographers, about half of which were first-timers in terms of rocket shooting. SpaceLens needed documents and materials for pre-shot training.
"We made a diagram of camera placement," Xie tells Online Gallery. He recalled that he marked the locations of the assembly plants and launch towers on a map of Longlou. He also marked the six different camera locations: the rooftop of a building, a pathway on Chuntao Road, the beach of Qishuiwan, Fisherman Home Seafood Restaurant, the top of Tonggu Mountain, and Shitou Park, covering the town, suburban area, seashore, and more. Sample photos taken from these six locations with different focal lengths were also provided.
"Thanks to the diagram, the photographers can select their preferred camera location as they see fit with their equipment," says Xie.
Yang explains the camera locations around the Wenchang Space Launch Site
To produce an excellent rocket picture, the selection of a camera location is only the first step. "Learn from other photographers, keep experimenting, and recalibrate again and again... In short, it requires a lot of experiences," Yang tells Online Gallery. "Shooting photos of a rocket may look easy, but it"s actually very difficult to do it properly."
After nearly ten rocket shooting projects, SpaceLens summarized a series of methods for rocket shooting.
They divided shooting into three subjects. First, is the launch during the day or night? Second, is the rocket fuel at low or normal temperature? Three, is the shooting focused on the exhaust flames or the rocket itself?
"The first two subjects greatly influence exposure," explains Yang. "If it"s normal-temperature fuel, the color would be relatively orange and dark; if it"s low-temperature fuel, for instance, LM-8, the flames would be brighter and can be seen as blue. But the launch is at noon, so the insufficiency of luminance is also an issue."
The luminance of exhaust flames directly influences the calibrations of exposure. Yu, the only female photographer of the group, had over-exposure issues during her first rocket shooting. "Every single photo was too bright to see," says she.
"You must keep the aperture low when capturing exhaust flames. Before the ignition of the rocket, the camera display screen is pitch-black," Yang tells Online Gallery. "It"s only after the shooting that you know whether you capture it or not and how well it turns out to be."
The launch of a rocket only takes a few minutes. Photographers must finish calibrating their cameras prior to the launch and capture shots in burst mode. "Rocket-relevant knowledge can help you develop sound judgment in various circumstances and, to the furthest extent, ensure getting satisfactory pictures," says Yang.
On the evening of February 26, SpaceLens held a photographer meeting to share its experiences with the volunteers participating in the joint shooting. They also posted the diagram of camera placement on the Internet for tourists and other photographers.
"I noticed that there was a huge lack of such information during my first attempt to capture shots of a rocket," Xie recalls, "I had no idea how and where I should do it. All I could do was try to find some clues in other photographers" videos." Location scouting alone took Xie a dozen hours during his first rocket shooting.
"These experiences will help photographers improve more quickly and lower the threshold for people to aerospace photography," says Xie. The driving force behind all this was their passion and love for aerospace.
On the eve of a launch, the hotel room rate increases sixfold
Bounded by sea on three sides, Wenchang is located in the northeast corner of Hainan Island. In September 2009, construction began on the Wenchang Space Launch Site, which was largely completed by October 2014. It accomplished the maiden flight of the Long March-7 carrier rocket in June 2016. Later, it undertook liftoffs of great significance in the history of the Chinese space program, such as Long March-5, Tiangong 1, and Long March-7.
As of February 27, 2022, the Wenchang Space Launch Complex had performed 16 rocket launch missions, and 11 of them took place within the last two years. The increased frequency of spacecraft launches has led to the development of the local economy.
Mr. Xue was born and raised in Longlou. A few years ago, due to land expropriation for constructing the launch site, Xue and his family moved from the village to the town several kilometers away and started running a hotel there. "The rumbling sound was so intense. All the windows were shaking," Xue recalls the first rocket launch in Wenchang. "It was scary." At the time, he and his family were holed up at home.
Xue tells Online Gallery that many locals started to get "a slice of the aerospace pie" after the completion of the space launch site. With a population of merely 20,000, Longlou has about 40 hotels. Whenever a launch is imminent, "the hotel room rate increases threefold, at least," says Xue. Even so, reservations must be placed at least a month in advance.
Xue"s hotel rooms were crudely renovated. The rate is less than 100 yuan per night at ordinary times, but it would increase to 388 yuan near a launch. The room rate of the town"s sole 5-star hotel, the Hilton hotel, is about 500 yuan per night at ordinary times—when a launch is imminent, it would increase sixfold to more than 3,000 yuan.
Statistics show that, in 2021, Longlou received over 500,000 tourists, and the rural residents" annual per-capita disposable income skyrocketed from 5,559 yuan in 2009 to 19,171 yuan in 2021. After each successful rocket launch, either during the day or night, the locals celebrated with fireworks spontaneously.
As the first coastal space launch base accessed by tourists in China, Longlou has undertaken a series of tourism development focusing on the aerospace industry to create an "aerospace town." Aerospace elements are in every corner of the town: Aerospace Avenue, Aerospace Elementary School, aerospace hotels...even the tableware in the town"s restaurants and the projections of street lights have rocket symbols.
However, in Xie"s opinion, the publicity and education of aerospace culture in Longlou is far from enough. "They are still treating it as a tourist attraction," he said.
On February 26, one day prior to the launch, Xie and his friends set up a volunteer service booth on the beach of Qishuiwan to answer rocket-related questions from the public for free. They also brought the television from the office to play rocket launch science videos they had produced previously.
In most cases, after a liftoff, a rocket goes through booster separation, first-stage separation, fairing separation, second-stage separation, satellite separation, propulsion module array expansion, and more. SpaceLens used animation to simulate the entire process of rocket launch in their videos.
"Start from watching the launch of a rocket, and then learn about the science behind it," Xie tells Online Gallery. He believes that aerospace culture enthusiasts are still a very small group in China and "most people can"t tell Long March from Shenzhou."
Xie Jixiao explains rocket science basics to tourists
Most members of SpaceLens were born around the year of 2000. They grew up in an era when the Chinese aerospace industry developed rapidly.
Liu Qingjun, a member responsible for livestream planning and narrative operation, has been an aerospace enthusiast for 14 years before he spectated a rocket launch on-site. In 2008, the Shenzhou 7 spacecraft was launched. This mission marked China"s first spacewalk. The historic occasion was then 8-year-old Liu Qingjun"s "first contact" with the Chinese aerospace industry. Later, he watched the live broadcast of the launch of Chang"e 3 on television.
As to Xie, he was inspired by a video game he played in high school—Kerbal Space Program, a simulation game based on realistic aerodynamic and orbital physics.
"You need to build rockets and calculate orbital velocity. I learned a lot about aerospace science in this game," Xie tells Online Gallery that when he witnessed the launch of a rocket in real life, "it was like reliving the scenes in video games or sci-fi movies, like a dream come true."
On the other hand, aerospace photography is expensive. A high-end camera is just a ticket. Therefore, SpaceLens is more like a group driven by passion, rather than profit.
Xie brought photographic equipment worth over 400,000 yuan for the shooting. The most expensive device he brought was a BMD 12K camera worth over 100,000 yuan. Most photographers that SpaceLens recruited had two to three high-end cameras.
In a joint shooting, all photographers of SpaceLens pay their own travel and equipment bills. And organizing a shooting event also costs money. To capture shots of Long March-8 Y2, for instance, according to Yu Jiawei"s calculations, already cost five to six thousand yuan on supplementary assets alone, including tents, desks, chairs, and souvenirs.
"If you leave out the photographic equipment, we made ends meet last year," Yu tells Online Gallery.
In fact, ever since SpaceLens posted its first video in April last year, the group has received more and more commercial requests. Within less than a year after establishment, the group produced promotional videos for two private rocket companies. SpaceLens" social media accounts also received some advertising requests from aerospace-related brands.
Postcards produced and sold by SpaceLens
Currently, SpaceLens is divided into four departments: operation, livestreaming, cultural innovation, and rocket launch, overseen by 20 core members, most of whom are university students who demand less in return monetarily. Yu Jiawei and Xie were university schoolmates. After graduation last year, they have committed themselves to running SpaceLens together. "Love for aerospace photography is still basically our only driving force," says Yu.
"We are the only professional aerospace photography group," Xie tells Online Gallery. Apart from capturing rocket launches, the group is working on aerospace science education content. He believes that SpaceLens will have a large market and potential to tap with the rise of commercial spaceflight in China.
After witnessing and capturing more than ten rocket launches, Xie still "feels emotional" and "sheds tears uncontrollably" at the moment a rocket blasts off—this is the most fascinating part of building a career out of passion.
Many people were inspired by SpaceLens" works to visit Wenchang and watch a rocket launch on-site for the first time—these are the most rewarding moments for Xie. The launch of a rocket is to send humankind"s vision to space, an attempt to explore the unknown.
It is SpaceLens" mission to capture these moments and pursue the dreams and passions through lenses.
(The article is translated and edited with authorization from the author @韦嘎, please note source and hyperlink when reproduce. The original article can be found here.)
(This story was first published on TMTPost. Video/Author: Wei Liukun | Editor: Chen Zheng)
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