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Launch Vehicles
Vehicle family profile

Tianlong-3

天龙三号

Family-level launch record combining canonical variants, historical missions, public cadence forecasts, and available payload performance specs.

Space Pioneer (Beijing Tianbing Technology Co., Ltd.)Active
Admin
Variants
1
Canonical variants linked to this family.
Historical missions
1
Missions in the public mission table with actual launch dates.
Peak listed capacity
17,000 kg
Maximum payload capacity across listed variants and orbits.

Launch Cadence

Historical missions are grouped by actual launch year. Forecast cadence uses family-level launch-rate rows.

YearHistorical missionsForecast launches
202611
202702
202803
202904
203005
203106
203208
203308
203408
203508
203608
203708
203808
203908
204008
204101

Forecast Location Split

1 launch location represented.

Performance Specs

Payload capacity by variant and target orbit when structured capacity rows are available.

VariantOrbitCapacityAltitudeInclinationSource
Tianlong-3
LEO17,000 kgUnknownUnknownSpaceNews China 2025 launcher preview
Tianlong-3
SSO14,000 kgUnknownUnknownSuzhou government Tianlong-3 profile

Recent Missions

Latest launched missions using variants in this family.

MissionVariantLaunch
Launch 2026-F05
Tianlong-3
Apr 3, 2026

Forecasted Missions

Upcoming mission rows with announced launch timing.

MissionVariantAnnounced

No forecasted missions

No upcoming announced mission rows are linked to this vehicle family.

Variants

Canonical variants rolled up into this launch vehicle family.

VariantStagesMissionsStatus
Tianlong-3
Not stated1Active
YearLocationLaunchesConfidenceBasis
2026Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center125%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2027Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center225%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2028Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center325%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2029Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center430%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2030Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center530%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2031Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center630%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2032Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center835%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2033Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center835%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2034Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center835%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2035Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center835%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2036Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center835%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2037Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center835%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2038Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center835%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2039Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center835%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2040Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center835%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.
2041Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center125%Catalog-completeness placeholder for active Tianlong-3 family; not used by latest forecast capacity snapshot.
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
2026 · 25% confidence
1

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
2027 · 25% confidence
2

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
2028 · 25% confidence
3

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
2029 · 30% confidence
4

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
2030 · 30% confidence
5

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
2031 · 30% confidence
6

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
2032 · 35% confidence
8

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
2033 · 35% confidence
8

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
2034 · 35% confidence
8

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
2035 · 35% confidence
8

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
2036 · 35% confidence
8

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
2037 · 35% confidence
8

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Tianlong-3 is a Falcon-9-class commercial launcher with early anomaly risk but should ramp if it enters operations.

Track
Mentions
233
All verified mentions of this launch vehicle family in source documents.
0.0-5.0
Actions

Tianlong-3’s first stage underwent a static fire test last September.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.0Apr 3, 2026…and here’s a fresh TL-3 1st stage before undergoing its static fire last September:

SPACE-PIONEER tested the release mechanism for deploying 36 Starlink-like satellites for its upcoming Tianlong-3 rocket.

Page4of12
PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Apr 3, 2026While this seems unlikely now (launch track points towards SSO instead of the slightly lower incl. they need), there were rumors the 1st few TL-3 launches, perhaps even this (!), were taken up by Chinese huge LEO comsat constellation SpaceSail, who are desperate for rides to LEO.

Tianlong-3’s second stage is single-engine powered.

CapabilityValue 4.2Apr 3, 2026…and made use of a newly built “maritime test firing platform” at Shandong’s Haiyang Spaceport, perhaps the most underrated spaceport in the world right now, to do test firings. Here’s the single engine powered TL-3 2nd stage before its static fire:

The first Tianlong-3 orbital launch attempt ended in failure.

PlanGeneralValue 3.5Apr 3, 2026The first Tianlong-3 orbital launch attempt ends in failure. Liftoff reported at 0417 UTC from Jiuquan. No official statement from Space Pioneer yet.

Space Pioneer is developing the Tianlong-3 rocket.

CapabilityPlanValue 3.0Apr 3, 2026The Tianlong-3 is officially (yes, they explicitly wrote that in their webpage) inspired by none other than *the* Falcon 9, & designed for same reason F9 flew today: LEO comsat constellations. At 17 tonnes to LEO, it & similar rockets are aiming filling big Chinese launch holes.

Space Pioneer is preparing the Tianlong-3 second stage for transport to Haiyang for a static fire test.

PlanCapabilityValue 3.8Apr 3, 2026In other countries, such big oopsies just several km from a large city would have probably killed a company. But this is China, and especially for such a resilient company as Space Pioneer, they are not giving up. Far from it. They built up another rocket a year ago:

Tianlong-3 is scheduled to return to Jiuquan SLC after a dynamic fire accident 21 months earlier.

PlanValue 4.0Apr 2, 2026While all eyes will be on 4 brave humans on their cruise towards the Moon after 54 years of drought - a revenge of Apollo cancellation of sorts - in the Chinese desert, a private company’s “Chinese Falcon 9” is staging their own revenge in half a day after a humiliating accident.

Tianlong-3 is Space Pioneer’s rocket.

CapabilityRelationshipsValue 3.5Apr 2, 2026Thousands of kms away from 4 brave explorers about to start flying towards the Moon, a brave Chinese private LSP named Space Pioneer, w/ 1 successful orbital launch in the bag, is ~4 hours away from making their 2nd 1st launch of their own Falcon 9 rocket, the Tianlong-3.

Space Pioneer scheduled Tianlong-3 for April 3 at about 04:00 UTC.

PlanValue 4.0Mar 31, 2026For those who are overwhelmed by everything spaceflight happening at once, apparently Space Pioneer has heard you, and their revenge-on-fate since Tianlong-3’s “dynamic fire” is now scheduled on April 3 ~04:00 UTC, or 4 hours after 4 people got their final kick towards the Moon:

Tianlong-3 experienced a prior "dynamic fire" test failure before the scheduled April 3 attempt.

PlanValue 3.0Mar 31, 2026For those who are overwhelmed by everything spaceflight happening at once, apparently Space Pioneer has heard you, and their revenge-on-fate since Tianlong-3’s “dynamic fire” is now scheduled on April 3 ~04:00 UTC, or 4 hours after 4 people got their final kick towards the Moon:

Tianlong-3 is associated with Jiuquan SLC.

GeneralValue 2.3Mar 31, 2026For those who are overwhelmed by everything spaceflight happening at once, apparently Space Pioneer has heard you, and their revenge-on-fate since Tianlong-3’s “dynamic fire” is now scheduled on April 3 ~04:00 UTC, or 4 hours after 4 people got their final kick towards the Moon:

Tianlong-3 is scheduled to return on April 2 at 04:00 UTC.

PlanValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026If Kinetica-2's debut's a pleasant surprise, then the other debuting @ Jiuquan SLC in coming days has already shocked the world before 21 months ago in a "dynamic fire". Yet it has not surrendered. Welcome back Tianlong-3, on the very day Artemis II rises. April 2, 04:00 UTC.

The possible Tianlong-3 NOTAM identifies Jiuquan as the launch location.

PlanValue 2.0Mar 30, 2026Debut launch attempts imminent: Lijian-2 from CAS Space at 1100 UTC today, then Tianlong-3 from Space Pioneer on April 2.

The image associates Tianlong-3 with a 101.9-degree orbit.

CapabilityValue 2.2Mar 30, 2026Debut launch attempts imminent: Lijian-2 from CAS Space at 1100 UTC today, then Tianlong-3 from Space Pioneer on April 2.

Artemis II is scheduled to rise on the same day as Tianlong-3's return.

PlanValue 2.5Mar 30, 2026If Kinetica-2's debut's a pleasant surprise, then the other debuting @ Jiuquan SLC in coming days has already shocked the world before 21 months ago in a "dynamic fire". Yet it has not surrendered. Welcome back Tianlong-3, on the very day Artemis II rises. April 2, 04:00 UTC.

Tianlong-3 is scheduled to return after a failed dynamic fire 21 months earlier.

PlanGeneralValue 3.8Mar 30, 2026If Kinetica-2's debut's a pleasant surprise, then the other debuting @ Jiuquan SLC in coming days has already shocked the world before 21 months ago in a "dynamic fire". Yet it has not surrendered. Welcome back Tianlong-3, on the very day Artemis II rises. April 2, 04:00 UTC.

The first Tianlong-3 launch vehicle was shipped to Jiuquan two months after the September 2025 static fire.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.2Mar 28, 2026Space Pioneer's First Tianlong-3 Rumoured to Launch No Earlier Than March 30th

The booster from the June 2024 Tianlong-3 static-fire test fell harmlessly on a nearby hillside.

GeneralPlanValue 2.6Mar 28, 2026Space Pioneer's First Tianlong-3 Rumoured to Launch No Earlier Than March 30th

Space Pioneer currently says Tianlong-3 can deliver 22,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit when expended.

CapabilityGeneralValue 4.0Mar 28, 2026Space Pioneer's First Tianlong-3 Rumoured to Launch No Earlier Than March 30th

Space Pioneer has only Tianlong-3 under serious development at the company.

PlanCapabilityValue 2.5Mar 28, 2026Space Pioneer's First Tianlong-3 Rumoured to Launch No Earlier Than March 30th