China launches first next-generation Long March 12 rocket • The Register

China launched a new class of rocket on Saturday, using a commercial spaceport for the first time for the mission.

The rocket is called Long March 12 and can carry payloads of 12 tons into low-Earth orbit or half of that into a sun-synchronous orbit. The two-stage launch vehicle is a single-core rocket powered by a quartet of liquid oxygen kerosene engines and uses a 3.8 meter long payload in this mission.

The Chinese government has touted innovations including sensors that enable performance diagnostics, cold helium pressurization compatible with liquid oxygen and aluminum-lithium alloy tanks.

The rocket is not reusable, although an engine that would make this possible is apparently being planned. However, it was designed for quick launch preparation. It can also accommodate a 4.2 or 5.2 meter diameter fairing to enable missions to transport larger volume cargoes.

The launch took place at the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Center, located on an island province at the southernmost point of China. It will be the first launch from the site, which China expects to be used by its growing private space industry.

The first Long March 12 took off with two experimental satellites reaching their desired orbits.

Beijing has boasted that the new ship will improve China’s ability to achieve sun-synchronous orbits, which allow satellites to fly over the same spot on Earth at the same time every day, which can be useful for weather observations – or monitoring. The launch announcement also mentions the rocket’s ability to enhance “low-orbit constellation network capability” – a likely reference to the country’s space broadband plans.

China is already fielding more powerful launchers, but the Long March 12 is considered important due to its improvement over previous rockets in its class and the fact that it is the country’s first four-meter-class launch vehicle.

The vehicle’s debut won’t worry SpaceX, whose Falcon 9 covers most payload metrics. But Long March 12 is more powerful than the two-booster version of the European Space Agency’s Ariane 6.

In other space news, China announced last Friday that it will renew its “Beidou” network of navigation satellites by 2035. The third-generation constellation will include 24 satellites in medium Earth orbit, three more in geostationary orbits, and another trio of inclined geosynchronous orbit satellites in orbit. Market launches are scheduled to begin in 2029 and continue until 2035. ®