Long March 6

The Long March 6A second stage is powered by a single YF-115 engine producing 18 tons of thrust.

Yaogan 50-02 reached orbit after a successful Long March 6A launch at 13:22 UTC on March 15, 2026.

The Long March 6A launch was scheduled for 1:24 PM UTC.

The March 15 mission was the 21st launch of the Long March 6A.

The launch vehicle was a Long March 6A.

The Long March 6A is used to deploy Chinese low-Earth-orbit communications satellites and other satellite constellations.

The Long March 6A has a payload capacity of 8,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit.

The Long March 6A boosters generate a combined thrust of 492 tons.

The Long March 6A solid-fueled boosters have a diameter of 2 meters.

The Long March 6A was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology.

The Long March 6A has flown 12 missions since January 2025.

The Long March 6A first stage is augmented by four solid rocket boosters that each produce 124 tons of thrust.

The Long March 6A is the first new-generation Chinese launch vehicle to use a combination of solid and liquid propellants.

The Long March 6A first stage is powered by two YF-100 engines with a combined thrust of approximately 244 tons.

The Long March 6A uses a two-and-a-half-stage design.

A larger GuoWang satellite platform roughly 30 percent bigger and weighing up to 1,000 kilograms is launched via Long March 5B and Long March 6A.

LeoLabs found a median radar cross section (RCS) of 6.2 square meters for GuoWang satellites launched by Long March 6A.

LeoLabs analysis indicates near-polar GuoWang groups launched by Long March 6A and Long March 5B are probably using the larger satellite platform while groups launched by Long March 8A and Long March 12 are probably using the smaller platform.