The Long March 12 Y4 launched the SatNet LEO Group 16.
🚀 Liftoff of a Long March 12 from Hainan confirmed Jan 19, 2026 China's Long March 12 Y4 lifted off from Hainan at 23:00 UTC on December 11.
🚀 Liftoff of a Long March 12 from Hainan confirmed Jan 19, 2026 Long March 12 Y5 launched SatNet LEO Group 19 from Hainan at 07:48 UTC on January 19, 2026.
🚀 Liftoff at 07:48UTC January 19, Long March 12 Y5 launched SatNet LEO Group 19 from Hainan. Jan 19, 2026 Since the downfall of the Iron Curtain, China is the only place where a Falcon 9 class rocket can quickly transition from concept to reality after only 1-2 fuzzy models.
Since the downfall of the Iron Curtain, China's the only place where a Falcon 9 class rocket can suddenly "become real" after only living through 1-2 fuzzy models and some .pptx: Jan 19, 2026 Rumors suggest that the first launch of the CZ-12B will only test the grid fins, re-entry burn, and landing burn hovering part, without landing, although this is not confirmed.
Not only it's real, it might be flying within weeks (though on the recovery part, I have seen rumors that the 1st launch will only test the grid fins, re-entry burn and landing burn hovering part, without landing - NOT confirmed yet though): Jan 19, 2026 The CZ-12B is reportedly set to fly within weeks.
Not only it's real, it might be flying within weeks (though on the recovery part, I have seen rumors that the 1st launch will only test the grid fins, re-entry burn and landing burn hovering part, without landing - NOT confirmed yet though): Jan 19, 2026 Shenzhou 20 is an uncrewed return capsule.
It's a somewhat busy Chinese spaceflight day today, not the least of which Shenzhou 20's finally coming back in the next 1.5 hours (apparently no live coverage alas). I think it's almost certain extra shielding installed will be enough, but who knows? Jan 19, 2026 Shenzhou 20 spacecraft is returning shortly.
It's a somewhat busy Chinese spaceflight day today, not the least of which Shenzhou 20's finally coming back in the next 1.5 hours (apparently no live coverage alas). I think it's almost certain extra shielding installed will be enough, but who knows? Jan 19, 2026 Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is currently very active with launches.
And yeah, Jiuquan SLC is busy as heck - we have been waiting for this one to fly (intentionally *cough*) for like 2 years though: Jan 19, 2026 Tianlong 3 has been positioned vertically at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
And yeah, Jiuquan SLC is busy as heck - we have been waiting for this one to fly (intentionally *cough*) for like 2 years though: Jan 19, 2026 Tianlong 3 arrived at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center two months prior to January 19, 2026.
And yeah, Jiuquan SLC is busy as heck - we have been waiting for this one to fly (intentionally *cough*) for like 2 years though: Jan 19, 2026 Shenzhou 20's descent capsule has landed nominally near the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
Shenzhou 20's descent capsule has landed nominally near JSLC: Jan 19, 2026 Shenzhou 20's service module has burned up after spending an additional 2 months in space.
Shenzhou 20's service module finally burning up after spending an extra 2 months in space. From Korla, Xinjiang: Jan 19, 2026 Shenzhou 20 spent 270 days in orbit, setting a new Chinese record.
Undocking from the CSS was at 16:23 UTC January 18; landing was at 01:34 UTC January 19 - Shenzhou 20 ultimately spent 270 days in orbit, a new Chinese record. Shenzhou 23 is now already in JSLC, w/ Long March 2F s/n Y23 about to leave for there soon too. Jan 19, 2026 The Long March 2F rocket serial number Y23 is about to leave for JSLC soon.
Undocking from the CSS was at 16:23 UTC January 18; landing was at 01:34 UTC January 19 - Shenzhou 20 ultimately spent 270 days in orbit, a new Chinese record. Shenzhou 23 is now already in JSLC, w/ Long March 2F s/n Y23 about to leave for there soon too. Jan 19, 2026 Shenzhou 23 is now at the JSLC.
Undocking from the CSS was at 16:23 UTC January 18; landing was at 01:34 UTC January 19 - Shenzhou 20 ultimately spent 270 days in orbit, a new Chinese record. Shenzhou 23 is now already in JSLC, w/ Long March 2F s/n Y23 about to leave for there soon too. Jan 19, 2026 Shenzhou 20 landed at 01:34 UTC on January 19.
Undocking from the CSS was at 16:23 UTC January 18; landing was at 01:34 UTC January 19 - Shenzhou 20 ultimately spent 270 days in orbit, a new Chinese record. Shenzhou 23 is now already in JSLC, w/ Long March 2F s/n Y23 about to leave for there soon too. Jan 19, 2026 Shenzhou 20 undocked from the CSS at 16:23 UTC on January 18.
Undocking from the CSS was at 16:23 UTC January 18; landing was at 01:34 UTC January 19 - Shenzhou 20 ultimately spent 270 days in orbit, a new Chinese record. Shenzhou 23 is now already in JSLC, w/ Long March 2F s/n Y23 about to leave for there soon too. Jan 19, 2026 State media CCTV broadcasted footage of cargo removal from the landed descent module of Shenzhou 20.
State media CCTV's latest news report just included some footage of cargo removal from the landed descent module of Shenzhou 20: Jan 19, 2026 The CSS EVA spacesuit 'b' was retired after reaching its 20 times usage limit.
Shenzhou 20 has returned with some cargo of opportunity from the CSS, including CSS EVA spacesuit "b" (w/ blue strips marking) being retired after reaching its 20 times usage limit. It was supposed to return on a "new type of S/C" (probably Mengzhou-1) but now got an early seat. Jan 19, 2026 Shenzhou 20 made an early return instead of its scheduled mission.
Shenzhou 20 has returned with some cargo of opportunity from the CSS, including CSS EVA spacesuit "b" (w/ blue strips marking) being retired after reaching its 20 times usage limit. It was supposed to return on a "new type of S/C" (probably Mengzhou-1) but now got an early seat. Jan 19, 2026 Shenzhou 20 was supposed to return on a new type of spacecraft, likely Mengzhou-1.
Shenzhou 20 has returned with some cargo of opportunity from the CSS, including CSS EVA spacesuit "b" (w/ blue strips marking) being retired after reaching its 20 times usage limit. It was supposed to return on a "new type of S/C" (probably Mengzhou-1) but now got an early seat. Jan 19, 2026 Shenzhou 20 has returned with cargo from the Chinese Space Station (CSS).
Shenzhou 20 has returned with some cargo of opportunity from the CSS, including CSS EVA spacesuit "b" (w/ blue strips marking) being retired after reaching its 20 times usage limit. It was supposed to return on a "new type of S/C" (probably Mengzhou-1) but now got an early seat. Jan 19, 2026 Ground crew taped over the port hole window of the capsule after it landed to preserve the crime scene.
Not surprisingly ground crew taped over the culprit port hole window as soon as the capsule has landed to preserve the "crime scene" as pristine as it can be: Jan 19, 2026 A user with the handle Cosmic Penguin tweeted on January 19, 2026, that the charred thermal protection system (TPS) looks perfectly normal.
Other than that, the charred TPS looks perfectly normal to me: Jan 19, 2026 The next Chinese rocket to fly to orbit is scheduled to launch in 2 hours from now.
I said it's a busy Chinese spaceflight day because the next Chinese rocket to fly to orbit will try to sweep away the bad luck this weekend in 2 hours from now. Photos by @Skyfeather16 & @Space_Alioth : Jan 19, 2026 China is attempting to overcome a recent double-launch failure that occurred in a single day.
I said it's a busy Chinese spaceflight day because the next Chinese rocket to fly to orbit will try to sweep away the bad luck this weekend in 2 hours from now. Photos by @Skyfeather16 & @Space_Alioth : Jan 19, 2026 A SatNet low Earth orbit communications satellite launch is expected to happen from Wenchang.
I said it's a busy Chinese spaceflight day because the next Chinese rocket to fly to orbit will try to sweep away the bad luck this weekend in 2 hours from now. Photos by @Skyfeather16 & @Space_Alioth : Jan 19, 2026 The 5th Long March 12 is slated for launch on January 19, 2026 at approximately 07:48 UTC.
I said it's a busy Chinese spaceflight day because the next Chinese rocket to fly to orbit will try to sweep away the bad luck this weekend in 2 hours from now. Photos by @Skyfeather16 & @Space_Alioth : Jan 19, 2026 The first double-launch failure-in-a-day by Chinese organizations occurred since 2005.
I said it's a busy Chinese spaceflight day because the next Chinese rocket to fly to orbit will try to sweep away the bad luck this weekend in 2 hours from now. Photos by @Skyfeather16 & @Space_Alioth : Jan 19, 2026 The Long March 12 rocket was photographed behind flowers on January 19, 2026.
Long March 12 rocket peeking behind flowers: Jan 19, 2026 A rocket is rolling out on January 16, 2026.
The rocket rolling out on the 16th: Jan 19, 2026 Two of the VAB bays currently under construction are designated for the Long March 10 rocket, which will be launched to the Moon.
BTW Wenchang SLS' "government managed part" is now up to 6 VAB bays for its 3 launch pads - the 2 under construction are for the Long March 10 to the Moon. Jan 19, 2026 Wenchang SLS has six Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) bays for its three launch pads.
BTW Wenchang SLS' "government managed part" is now up to 6 VAB bays for its 3 launch pads - the 2 under construction are for the Long March 10 to the Moon. Jan 19, 2026 Long March 12 is well into propellant loading at around T-1 hour.
Long March 12 is well into propellant loading at around T-1 hour. Watch live at / Jan 19, 2026 The launch occurred on January 19, 2026, at 07:48 UTC.
Liftoff right on time at 07:48 UTC: Jan 19, 2026 The 5th LM-12 has cleared the tower.
The 5th LM-12 clearing the tower: Jan 19, 2026 LM-12 passed through Max-Q on January 19, 2026.
LM-12 passing through Max-Q: Jan 19, 2026 The LM-12 lifted off at 07:48 UTC on January 19, 2026.
It's back to usual as the LM-12 successfully deployed yet another batch of 9(?) SatNet LEO communication satellites (as SatNet LEO Group 19) after its 07:48 UTC liftoff. Success counter counting up from 1 again... Jan 19, 2026 The LM-12 successfully deployed 9 SatNet LEO communication satellites as SatNet LEO Group 19.
It's back to usual as the LM-12 successfully deployed yet another batch of 9(?) SatNet LEO communication satellites (as SatNet LEO Group 19) after its 07:48 UTC liftoff. Success counter counting up from 1 again... Jan 19, 2026 The stock Long March 12 rocket will likely be utilized in the short term.
Hard to say how transitional will the stock Long March 12 be (not the least of which all those rockets sharing the same name but with suffixes), but it certainly will be around in the short term as the Chinese are all-hands-on-deck for any rocket that can deploy constellations. Jan 19, 2026 China is currently focused on all available rockets that can deploy constellations.
Hard to say how transitional will the stock Long March 12 be (not the least of which all those rockets sharing the same name but with suffixes), but it certainly will be around in the short term as the Chinese are all-hands-on-deck for any rocket that can deploy constellations. Jan 19, 2026 A video features the rumble of four staged combustion kerosene/LOX engines.
Rumble of 4 staged combustion kerosene/LOX engines: Jan 19, 2026 Cosmic Penguin shared a video from a camera looking directly down at the pad on January 19, 2026.
Camera looking directly down the pad: Jan 19, 2026 Galaxy Space is providing a full batch of LEO communication satellites for SatNet.
SatNet is using a mixed pot of satellite manufacturers, and this time private company Galaxy Space - having their own constellation plans - again provides a full batch of LEO comsats. It's also all-hands-on-deck for all Chinese satellite manufacturers for these constellations! Jan 19, 2026 All Chinese satellite manufacturers are involved in the production of these constellations.
SatNet is using a mixed pot of satellite manufacturers, and this time private company Galaxy Space - having their own constellation plans - again provides a full batch of LEO comsats. It's also all-hands-on-deck for all Chinese satellite manufacturers for these constellations! Jan 19, 2026 SatNet is using a mixed group of satellite manufacturers for its constellations.
SatNet is using a mixed pot of satellite manufacturers, and this time private company Galaxy Space - having their own constellation plans - again provides a full batch of LEO comsats. It's also all-hands-on-deck for all Chinese satellite manufacturers for these constellations! Jan 19, 2026 Galaxy Space has its own constellation plans.
SatNet is using a mixed pot of satellite manufacturers, and this time private company Galaxy Space - having their own constellation plans - again provides a full batch of LEO comsats. It's also all-hands-on-deck for all Chinese satellite manufacturers for these constellations! Jan 19, 2026 The SDA is preparing to resume launches for their Tranche 1 Transport Layer, starting with T1TL-A with Northrop Grumman satellites in mid-February.
After a 3-month gap, the SDA is preparing to resume launches for their Tranche 1 Transport Layer, starting with T1TL-A with Northrop Grumman satellites NET Mid-February! The SDA was planning a monthly cadence, but software issues & limited processing capacity caused delays. Jan 19, 2026 Northrop Grumman is rapidly delivering more satellites to the SDA to meet critical mission needs.
After a 3-month gap, the SDA is preparing to resume launches for their Tranche 1 Transport Layer, starting with T1TL-A with Northrop Grumman satellites NET Mid-February! The SDA was planning a monthly cadence, but software issues & limited processing capacity caused delays. Jan 19, 2026