China’s Long March-12 launch vehicle – Xinhua

WENCHANG, Hainan, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) — China launched a new launch vehicle from the Hainan Commercial Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern island province of Hainan on Saturday evening.

The Long March-12 launch vehicle sent two experimental satellites into their planned orbits. According to Hainan provincial authorities, the launch mission was a complete success.

The rocket was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. With a length of around 62 meters and a diameter of 3.8 meters, it is constructed in two stages. It is currently the largest single-core launch vehicle in the country in terms of payload capacity.

The rocket is designed to have a load capacity of not less than 12 tons in low Earth orbit and not less than 6 tons in 700 km sun-synchronous orbit.

An optimal match between the diameter of the rocket body and the number of engines is achieved by using four liquid oxygen-kerosene engines in the first stage, which not only increases the carrying capacity, but also allows the rocket to be transported by rail to various destinations Launch sites across the country.

The rocket also utilizes a number of new technologies, including rocket health diagnostic management, cold helium pressurization and aluminum-lithium alloy tanks. Its fairing features standard diameter configurations of 4.2 meters and 5.2 meters, which can be customized to suit different mission requirements.

The Long March-12 launch vehicle is ready for frequent launch missions. It will effectively improve China’s ability to place satellites into sun-synchronous orbits and build a multi-constellation network in low Earth orbit.

Saturday’s launch was the 548th flight of the Long March rocket series. ■