It is located in Zeyuan Town (泽远镇), approximately 64 kilometers (40 mi) northwest of Xichang, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan.

[1][2] It is notable as the site of Sino-European space cooperation, with the launch of the first of two Double Star scientific satellites in December 2003.

[7] China launched its first Long March-2E carrier rocket on July 16, 1990, sending into orbit Pakistan's first indigenously developed Badr-1 satellite and HS-601.

On February 15, 1996, a fatal accident occurred when the first new Long March 3B heavy carrier rocket carrying Intelsat 708 veered off course 22 seconds after launch, crashing 1200 meters away from the launch pad in a nearby mountain village, destroying 80 homes.

The SC-19 has been described as being based on a modified DF-21 ballistic missile or its commercial derivative, the KT-2 with a Kinetic Kill Vehicle and is fully mobile.

This was the 105th mission of China's Long March series of rockets, and also the launch of the nation's first data relay satellite (数据中继卫星) Tianlian I (天链一号).

XSLC's Technical Center is equipped for testing and integration of the payload and launch vehicle.