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HELSINKI — China conducted the maiden launch of its reusable Long March 12B rocket Monday, providing no advance warning and delivering operational payloads to orbit.
The first Long March 12B lifted off at 4:40 a.m. Eastern (0840 UTC) June 1 from the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Test Zone at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the country’s state-owned main space contractor, announced launch success within an hour of liftoff, revealing that the debut launch had carried operational payloads, adding satellites to the Shanghai-led Qianfan (Thousand Sails) broadband megaconstellation. CASC did not immediately confirm the number of satellites carried, but if the launch followed the typical batch size of 18, it would bring the Qianfan constellation to 180 satellites now in orbit.
There were no apparent airspace notices issued ahead of the launch, though previous reporting stated that the rocket had recently been sighted being vertical on its pad. First indications that a launch had taken place appeared on Chinese social media. The launch vehicle underwent a successful static-fire test in January.
Airspace and maritime notices are standard practice ahead of rocket launches, providing safety warnings to aircraft and vessels that may be in or near the flight path. In the context of Chinese launches, these are also often the first indication of defined time and date for a launch.
Though the Long March 12B is designed to be reusable, the launch did not involve a first stage recovery attempt, CASC stated, adding that such a recovery test will be carried out at a later date.
CASC stated that the new launch vehicle features a two-stage configuration with a 4.37-meter-diameter core and approximately 72 meters overall length. Its first stage is powered by nine YF-102R kerosene-liquid oxygen engines, with a single YF-102RV vacuum variant on the second stage. The stated low Earth orbit (LEO) payload capacity is approximately 20,000 kilograms, likely referring to when the first stage is expended rather than recovered.
CASC said the rocket was designed to reduce launch costs and support China’s growing constellation programs and is capable of adapting to multi-orbit missions. The launch pad used for this mission was constructed under the lead of CASC’s China Commercial Launch Vehicle Company and is CASC’s first self-built research, test, and launch facility. YF-102 series engines are designed for commercial use and have previously been used on Space Pioneer’s Tianlong-2 and CAS Space’s Kinetica-2.
The Long March 12B adds to China’s options for batch launches of satellites, while providing a Falcon 9-class reusable option in the future, and approaching the payload capacity of China’s most capable active launcher, the Long March 5, which can launch up to 25,000 kg to LEO. China has made two first stage recovery attempts to date, through the Long March 12A and Landspace’s Zhuque-3, with both rockets reaching orbit, but both recovery attempts failing on descent. Demonstrating recoverability and reusability remain challenges to be solved.
The Long March 12B follows the debut of the Long March 12A, a nominally related, methalox rocket, in December 2025, and presages the debut of further new, potentially reusable Chinese rockets in the coming weeks and months, along with new recovery tests.
China is aiming to greatly boost its access to space through high payload capacity, reusable launch vehicles to make its multiple megaconstellation projects viable, while also working on reusable Long March rockets dedicated to crewed spaceflight, including crewed lunar landings, and large space and lunar infrastructure projects.
The Long March 12B launch was China’s 35th orbital launch attempt of 2026, following a Long March 2D launch May 30.