Long March 12 launches 25th low-orbit satellite group

(SpaceEnergy) China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation has launched the 25th group of China’s low-orbit satellite internet spacecraft aboard a liquid-propellant Long March 12 rocket from Hainan.

The Long March 12 lifted off from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site at 08:32 Beijing time on 17 September and placed the satellites into their planned orbit, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

China Commercial Rocket Company, a CASC subsidiary, provided launch services as prime contractor.

CASC describes the Long March 12, developed under its Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, as a new-generation cryogenic liquid-propellant launch vehicle and China’s first single-core rocket with a 4-metre-class diameter.

The approximately 62-metre vehicle can carry at least 6 tonnes to a 700km Sun-synchronous orbit and can use either a 4.2-metre or 5.2-metre-diameter payload fairing for single- or multiple-satellite missions.

The flight was the 667th launch of the Long March rocket family.