According to the general schedule，Goupitan Hydropower Station is planned to impound after the flood season in 2008.The first stage ship lift located in the reservoir needs to complete the underwater construction before impounding.The layout and selection of the first stage ship lift are extremely difficult due to the constraints of topographical and geological conditions，layout of the left bank cable crane platform，construction schedule requirements and other factors.Based on the researches on the selection and layout scheme of the first stage ship lift model of the navigation building of Goupitan Hydropower Station，this paper comprehensively compares the conventional full balance ship lift model with the launching vertical ship lift model from the aspects of technical conditions，throughput，construction period，economic benefits，etc.An innovative layout scheme of the upstream launching vertical ship lift is proposed to solve the core contradiction that the construction of ship lift restricts the water storage and power generation of the project.