The cornerstone of the rocket-watching industry lies in consistent, high-frequency launches, while its growth is propelled by professional operations.

Picture this: coconut groves swaying gently, beaches bustling with life, and in the distance, a fiery streak pierces the night sky. Moments later, the distant rumble of thunder echoes ashore, and the location is revealed as "Wenchang, Hainan." Soon, your social media feed may be filled with such captivating scenes.

Some take time off work specifically for this spectacle, others chase it three times a year, and some travel thousands of miles with their children just to witness a live rocket ignition. Rocket-watching has evolved from a niche hobby for space enthusiasts to a must-do experience for families, students, and young travelers. Thus, a seaside town renowned for its launch site has embraced a new economic strategy.

【01 On the Third Day of Navigation, Factories Start Lining Up Along the River】

On the evening of December 20, 2025, the Long March 5 rocket soared into the sky from the Wenchang Space Launch Site, propelling the Communications Technology Test Satellite-23 into orbit. Tens of thousands of tourists simultaneously raised their phones to capture the moment from beaches, parks, and coconut groves near the launch site.

According to local media reports, a tourist from Shenzhen visited Wenchang for the third time that year. She had booked a "viewing room" a month in advance, paying over 700 yuan per night for its unobstructed rooftop view.

Such nights are becoming increasingly common in Wenchang.

In 2025, Wenchang's two major launch sites conducted 21 launches, including 12 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site and 9 at the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site. Local media reported that Wenchang welcomed over 1 million tourists in 2025, with about 70% coming specifically for the rocket launches. On launch days, the occupancy rate of commercial accommodations soared to 95.68%.

Rocket launches are spawning a visible and thriving industrial chain.

Xinhua News Agency reported that hotels and guesthouses in Longlou Town, home to the space city, surged from just 5 in 2016 to over 150. Occupancy rates during launches consistently exceeded 95%, with over 5,000 locals earning income and jobs from space tourism.

Viewing experiences have also evolved from "rooftop squatting" to standardized offerings: In January 2025, Wenchang released its first whitelist of launch viewing spots. Paid viewing platforms like Yaoguang Viewing Platform and Wenchang Space Viewing Center charged 300-400 yuan per ticket, while guesthouses offered combined itineraries such as "viewing + beachcombing" and "science education + coconut grove cycling". According to the head of China Travel (Hainan) Aerospace Tourism Development Co., Ltd., Wenchang's cultural tourism is transitioning from "single viewing" to "comprehensive experiences".

All of this is supported by rapidly expanding launch capacity.

Phase I of the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site was completed in June 2024, with its inaugural flight on November 30 of the same year. Phase II is expected to be completed in September this year, with its first launch by year-end, while Phases III and IV are already in the planning stages.

The more frequent the launches, the more predictable the tourist flow becomes, prompting escalating government actions.

Around China's Space Day in 2025, Hainan launched a viewing carnival, aerospace educational tours, industrial tourism routes, and a smart tourism platform, attempting to weave together launch sites, supercomputing centers, satellite and rocket industrial parks with temples, coconut groves, and Qishui Bay into a cohesive network.

In April this year, Hainan proposed advancing the establishment of an aerospace tourism platform, developing maritime cruise viewing, opening the Hainan Aerospace Museum, providing access to rocket assembly and testing facilities and satellite super factories, and deploying cutting-edge facilities such as suborbital space tourism centers.

At the Wenchang International Aerospace Forum in August, the Wenchang International Aerospace City Administration signed agreements with 17 industrial chain enterprises, with aerospace cultural tourism prominently featured.

On September 21, multiple media outlets reported that relevant operating entities in Hainan had signed cooperation agreements to advance the establishment of an aerospace tourism platform, with preliminary work such as new project planning, project evaluation, and approvals commencing simultaneously.

Hainan stated it would align with the institutional design of the "Hainan Free Trade Port Commercial Space Promotion Regulations", study targeted policies, and build a world-class aerospace tourism destination.

Space launches, alongside coastal tourism, have become the focus of Hainan's cultural tourism sector.

【02 From Kennedy to Houston】

On Florida's "Space Coast" (Brevard County/Space Coast) in the United States, rocket-watching has been a thriving business for six decades.

In 1963, NASA opened the Kennedy Space Center for self-drive tours, with a display area consisting of a trailer and a few tables showcasing models. In 1967, the visitor center officially opened, attracting 500,000 visitors in its first year.

The real turning point came in 1995. NASA entrusted the entire visitor center to Delaware North, a veteran hotel and catering group, with the contract renewed continuously until 2028.

Over three decades, the park underwent a complete transformation: the Saturn V rocket, Atlantis space shuttle exhibits, simulated launch experiences, astronaut meet-and-greets, and bus tours to the launch pads were gradually introduced.

It operates without costing U.S. taxpayers a dime, covering all expenses through parking, ticket, dining, and merchandise revenues, while also allocating funds for the maintenance of hundreds of artifacts.

Today, it welcomes 1.5 to 1.7 million visitors annually and was ranked as the top U.S. attraction by TripAdvisor in 2025.

Its brilliance lies in embedding rockets, whose launch dates are uncertain, into products that offer a full day of entertainment regardless of the launch schedule: even without a launch, visitors pay for authentic hardware and behind-the-scenes stories; when a major mission occurs, the launch serves as free, high-impact advertising.

What truly propels the entire "Space Coast" is launch frequency. In 2025, 109 launches were completed here, with SpaceX accounting for 101, surpassing the previous year's record of 93. Local military projections estimate 100-120 launches in 2026.

A 2019 survey by the local tourism bureau revealed that visitors staying overnight for a launch spent an average of approximately $1,065. In 2023, the economic impact of Brevard's tourism industry reached $4.6 billion, with direct visitor spending at $2.95 billion.

The region also imposes a 5% tourism development tax on hotels and short-term rentals, with proceeds dedicated to marketing and infrastructure. In the most recent fiscal year, collections reached approximately $26 million—money spent by visitors that becomes ammunition to attract the next wave.

Major missions push this business to its peak. On April 1 this year, NASA's Artemis 2 manned lunar orbit mission launched. Based on mobile phone location data, the local tourism bureau estimated that approximately 346,000 adult visitors from outside the region entered northern Brevard County during the launch week, typically staying for two days and spending around $462 each, totaling approximately $41 million—a figure that excludes international visitors and children.

In contrast, the unmanned Artemis 1 mission in 2022 brought in about 226,000 visitors, while nine significant launches in recent years, including manned flights and heavy-lift rockets, averaged around 55,000 visitors each.

Clearly, the "star power" of a launch dramatically affects its economic impact.

Houston offers a different approach.

The Johnson Space Center serves as the mission control center and astronaut training base but does not launch rockets. In 1992, a non-profit foundation established the Houston Space Center as NASA's official visitor center. Operating without federal funding, it attracts nearly 1.3 million visitors annually, offering the mission control hall, over 400 physical exhibits, camps, and overnight courses.

U.S. tax filing data shows that its operating entity generated approximately $61.19 million in revenue in 2024, with project service income accounting for 77.7% and licensing revenue (such as brand authorization) accounting for 11%. In 2012, the same entity reported revenue of only about $18.81 million and negative net assets.

This demonstrates that aerospace can be a sustainably growing business even without live launches.

Further north, the Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, has hosted over 1 million participants since its inception in 1982. It transforms a single visit into multi-day simulated training, leaving children not with a mere photo but with the memory of "completing a mission"—a rare and valuable element in educational tourism: a sense of participation.

However, not all stories end happily.

Spaceport America in New Mexico, costing $218.5 million and primarily funded by state finances and local taxes, bet almost everything on Virgin Galactic's suborbital space tourism.

In June 2024, Virgin Galactic suspended commercial flights to develop new spacecraft, remaining grounded for over two years. Fees paid to the spaceport plummeted, leaving it in a budget deficit. State legislators even proposed selling it off.

When these cases are viewed together, the pattern becomes clear:

The rocket-watching business relies on sustained, high-frequency launches for its foundation, with growth driven by professional operation.

National space programs produce unique stories and artifacts, public agencies set open boundaries, professional operators translate knowledge into experiences, while hotels, transportation, commerce, and urban marketing handle spillover consumption.

Launches are the peak, while exhibitions and educational programs form the base. Vacation infrastructure determines where the money ultimately stays.

【03 China's Version of the "Space Coast"】

Compared to the U.S. "Space Coast", Wenchang currently faces two major gaps.

The first is frequency. In 2025, Wenchang conducted 21 launches, while the Space Coast saw 109. High frequency allows tourists to plan trips around their schedules, whereas low frequency forces them to align with rocket schedules, risking the loss of potential customers: if a launch is delayed or canceled, the entire trip may be ruined.

However, another set of figures suggests greater potential for Wenchang: currently, a single routine launch in Wenchang attracts about 45,000 visitors, nearing the average for major launches on the Space Coast. Chinese public enthusiasm for aerospace is strong, coupled with a larger population base—this forms the foundation for Wenchang to catch up and even surpass the "Space Coast".

The second gap is operation. Kennedy has been uniformly operated by a professional company for 30 years, whereas Wenchang's resources are scattered among launch sites, science centers, viewing platforms, guesthouses, and various travel agencies, leading to homogeneous products and inconsistent service.

This offers insights for the future aerospace tourism platform in Wenchang: as the central coordinator for the city's aerospace tourism, it should uniformly release launch and event information, package viewing, transportation, accommodations, courses, and industrial visits, establish rescheduling, refund, and insurance mechanisms, and connect governments, launch sites, schools, hotels, and village merchants under a unified service standard.

Beyond these gaps, Wenchang holds several advantages unavailable in the United States.

First, China's aerospace program is in a period of intense achievement, with lunar exploration, manned missions, heavy-lift rockets, and reusable rockets following in quick succession. Each major launch is a nationally followed event, inherently carrying significant attention.

Second, Hainan is already a national vacation destination, with policies such as the Free Trade Port's customs closure, duty-free shopping, and visa-free entry superimposed, allowing Wenchang to integrate into mature coastal vacation itineraries rather than operating in isolation.

Third, China's educational tourism market is vast, with aerospace ranking among the most recognized themes by parents.

Fourth, the satellite super factory, rocket reuse facility, and aerospace supercomputing center are gradually taking shape, enriching the materials for industrial tourism—a core selling point of Kennedy's bus tours.

However, to fully leverage these advantages, Wenchang must focus on enriching and diversifying its products and experiences beyond launches, innovating to create more cultural and tourism value, ensuring that a trip to the aerospace city is worthwhile "whether or not a launch occurs".

The true test of this business model lies in a simple criterion: years from now, on an ordinary weekend without a rocket launch, will tourists still willingly travel to Wenchang for a two-night stay?

If the answer is yes, rockets will no longer be just a roar in social media feeds but the engine of a city's new economy.

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