The construction of China's first missile test base, code-named Base 20 (), started in April 1958 and it entered service on October 20 of the same year. The first Chinese missile was built in October 1958 as a reverse-engineered copy of the Soviet R-2 short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), itself an upgraded version of a German V-2 rocket. Its range was 590 km, weighing 20.5 tons and propelled with liquid oxygen and alcohol. China's first ever T-7 sounding rocket was successfully launched from the Nanhui launch site on February 19, 1960. China started to develop medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBM) in July 1960, with an increased range double that of the R-2.