China's First Long March-12 Launch | Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site
The Long March-12 carrier rocket blasted off at 22:25 (Beijing Time) from the site's No. 2 launch pad, successfully sending two experimental satellites for private company GalaxySpace into their planned orbits.
The launch mission achieved complete success at 22:48, according to Hainan provincial authorities.
Developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the Long March-12 is currently the country's largest single-core carrier rocket in payload capacity. It features a two-stage configuration propelled by six liquid oxygen/kerosene engines with a length of about 62 meters and a diameter of 3.8 meters.
The rocket is designed with a carrying capacity of no less than 12 tonnes in low Earth orbit and no less than six tonnes in 700-km sun-synchronous orbit.
Construction work on the Hainan commercial space launch site began in July 2022, and it is now the country's first launch site dedicated to commercial missions.The site currently features two launch pads for liquid-propellant rockets. The No. 1 pad is designed for the Long March-8, China's new-generation medium-lift carrier rocket, while the No. 2 pad can accommodate multiple rocket types with varying diameters from commercial rocket companies. Each pad has an annual launch capacity of 16 launches.
Saturday's launch was the 548th flight mission of the Long March rocket series.
Long March-12 Rocket Data
3.8m wide & 62m tall, D5.2m fairings
430t liftoff mass
4 YF-100K kerolox engines provide 5000kN thrust at liftoff
2 YF-115 2nd stage engines are able to reignite for the first time
12t LEO capacity, 6t SSO
Image Dates: Nov. 29-30, 2024
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