Brigadier General James Monroe Williams

The Long March 12 carrier rocket (Chinese: 长征十二号运载火箭), is a Chinese medium-lift launch vehicle currently under development. It will be capable of placing at least 10 tonnes of payload in low Earth orbit and at least 6 tonnes in a 700 km Sun-synchronous orbit. Its first launch is planned to take place in 2024 from the commercial pads at the Wenchang Space Launch Site.[1]

Overview

On 26 February 2024, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) released its annual "Blue Book" which detailed the company's launch plans for the coming year; one of the projects revealed in the Blue Book is the new Long March 12 medium-lift rocket.[1] Long March 12 (CZ-12) is designed as a two-stage rocket: its first stage will be powered by four YF-100k 1250 KN engines using RP-1 and liquid oxygen while its second stage will be powered by two YF-115 180 kN engines also using RP-1/LOX. The rocket offers two payload fairing choices, one with a diameter of 5.2 metres and another with a diameter of 4.2 metres.[2]

CZ-12 has a stage diameter of 3.8 metres, a first for China. It will be launched from the new commercial launch site located at China's coastal spaceport in Wenchang.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Jones, Andrew (26 February 2024). "China's 2024 space plans include 100 launches and moon sample return mission". spacenews.com. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  2. ^ "长征十二号运载火箭计划今年首飞". 新华网. 2024-02-26.
  3. ^ Jones, Andrew (29 February 2024). "China to debut new Long March rockets in 2024". space.com. Retrieved 5 March 2024.