Long March 12 makes debut flight at new commercial spaceport

China's newest type of carrier rocket, the Long March 12, made its maiden flight on Saturday night, which also marked the debut mission of the Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Center, the nation's first spaceport dedicated to facilitating commercial operations.

Watched by a large crowd of spectators inside and surrounding the coastal launch complex, four liquid oxygen-kerosene engines on the rocket's first stage roared with dazzling flame at 10:25 pm when the hold-down clamps on the launch pad released, lifting the gigantic vehicle up into night skies from the No 2 launch pad at the new space complex.

After flying a short while, two satellites separated from the rocket and entered their preset orbit, marking the success of the launch mission.

Designed by the Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute, the Long March 12 is the 22nd member of the Long March family, the backbone of China's space sector, and the 17th in the operating fleet.

The institute is part of the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, which belongs to the State-owned industry conglomerate China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

The Long March 12 is the first Chinese rocket with a diameter of 3.8 meters - most Chinese rockets have a diameter of 3.35 meters, a standard width set in the 1960s considering constraining factors in rail transport.

Standing 62.6 meters tall, equivalent to the height of 22 stories of a standard residential building, the two-stage model is the second highest in all Chinese rockets, only exceeded by the 62.8-meter Long March 5.

The vehicle is propelled by liquid oxygen-kerosene-fueled engines and has a liftoff weight of more than 430 metric tons. It is capable of transporting spacecraft with a combined weight of more than 12 tons to a low-Earth orbit or 6 tons of satellites to a typical sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers, according to the Shanghai academy.

The new model will effectively improve China's capability to send spacecraft to a sun-synchronous orbit and deploy satellite networks in low orbits, it noted, adding that its research and development started in May 2020 and finished in June this year.

The Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Center is a joint venture of the Hainan provincial government and three State-owned space conglomerates including China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

The construction of the center, which began in July 2022, was undertaken by China Aerospace Construction Group.

Its No 1 launch service tower was completed in late December and is specifically tasked with servicing Long March 8 carrier rockets.

The second tower was finished in early June. It is capable of servicing more than 10 types of liquid-propellant carrier rockets, including those in the Long March family and models developed by private companies.

After starting formal operation, the new spaceport will become the fifth ground-based launch complex in China and the first dedicated to facilitating commercial space missions, generally paid for by a business entity, rather than government-funded programs.

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn