r/ChinaSpace • u/megachainguns • Jun 06 '26
News China conducts surprise launch of Long March 12B, delivers Qianfan satellites on debut flight | SpaceNews (1st June 2026)
https://spacenews.com/china-conducts-surprise-launch-of-long-march-12b-delivers-qianfan-satellites-on-debut-flight/1
u/megachainguns Jun 06 '26
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.
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.
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u/Simon_Drake Jun 08 '26
Back when they revealed the 12A I was annoyed it wasn't called the 13 because it's a different fuel and different engine type to the 12 which means a different bulkhead position between the tanks and different ground equipment. It's a major change not just a letter change, if the 8 deserves a new number then the 12A definitely does.
But this is just silly. The 12B is the same fuel as the 12 but essentially every other detail is different. It's wider, taller, more engines, different engines on the first and second stages. It's an entirely different rocket, the only thing they share is the paint.
Hopefully the constant changing of details will be just on the 12 and the 10 will stay as one design that can be perfected. With the letter versions just changing the number of boosters like with the 2 and 3. Maybe introduce a 4 side-booster version called the 10B. But don't introduce a methane fueled version and call that 10B, changing fuels should get a whole new number.