Long March 12th for the debut of the new space complex

China’s newest launch vehicle, the Long March 12, is set to make its first flight. This will also be the first launch at the new Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Center, the country’s first spaceport dedicated to facilitating commercial operations.

The first Long March 12 was moved to the No. 2 launch service tower of the new space complex in the coastal city of Wenchang in Hainan province on Tuesday morning, the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, the developer of the rocket model, said in a brief press release Maiden flight will take place in the near future.

The Long March 12 is the first Chinese rocket with a diameter of 3.8 meters; Most Chinese rockets are 3.35 meters in diameter. A wider fuselage means the rocket can hold more fuel than 3.35 meter wide models, giving it greater carrying capacity.

It has two stages with a total height of more than 60 meters. Powered by six liquid oxygen and kerosene-fueled engines, the model is capable of propelling spacecraft with a total weight of about 10 tons into low-Earth orbit or 6 tons of satellites into a typical sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers, according to the Shanghai Academy, a subsidiary of state-owned conglomerate China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

The Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Center is a joint venture between the Hainan provincial government and three state-owned space conglomerates – China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp and China Satellite Network Group.

Construction of the center began in July 2022 and was carried out by China Aerospace Construction Group.

Launch Service Tower No. 1 was completed at the end of December and is specifically responsible for servicing Long March 8 launch vehicles.

The second tower was completed at the beginning of June. It is capable of serving more than 10 types of liquid-propellant launch vehicles, including those of the Long March family and models developed by private companies.

Once formally commissioned, the new spaceport will be the fifth ground-based launch complex in China and the first dedicated to facilitating commercial space missions, typically funded by a business entity rather than government-funded programs.