Long March 12A

China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (SAST) plans to have the maiden flight of the CZ-12A rocket in 2025.

The Long March 12A is 70.4 meters high, making it the tallest space vehicle China has ever built.

The Long March 12A is the first reusable launch vehicle from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp to undertake a flight mission.

The main body of the Long March 12A is 3.8 meters wide, and the fairing has a diameter of 4.2 meters.

The Long March 12A model was designed and built by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

The Long March 12A was launched from a newly constructed service tower at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The Long March 12A has a liftoff weight of 437 metric tons and can transport at least 6 tons of payload to low-Earth orbit.

CASC engineers are analyzing telemetry data to determine the cause of the landing anomaly for the Long March 12A.

The Long March 12A stands 62 meters tall and is capable of lifting 12 metric tons to Low Earth Orbit.

The failure of the Long March 12A follows a similar failure by commercial provider LandSpace on December 3 when its Zhuque-3 rocket failed to land after a successful orbital insertion.

The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology confirmed that the Long March 12A lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 10:00 a.m. local time.

The Long March 12A features a 3.8-meter diameter core optimized for transport via China’s rail network.

The Long March 12A uses a methalox configuration, utilizing methane and liquid oxygen as fuel.

The second stage of the Long March 12A functioned nominally, placing test satellites into their designated orbits.

The reusable first stage of the Long March 12A crashed during its return attempt.

The development of the Long March 12A remains a national priority for China.

The failed recovery of the Long March 12A marks China's second failed recovery attempt in less than 30 days.

China's Long March 12A successfully delivered its payload to orbit but failed to recover its first-stage booster on December 23.