Overview
- The methane–liquid oxygen Long March 12A lifted off from Jiuquan late Dec. 22 EST and its upper stage reached the planned orbit, while CASC confirmed the first-stage booster was not recovered.
- The landing attempt targeted a pad about 250 kilometers downrange in Minqin County, with imagery indicating the stage came down roughly two kilometers from the site.
- It was China’s second unsuccessful orbital booster recovery attempt this month, following Landspace’s Zhuque-3 landing-burn failure on Dec. 3.
- Developer SAST and state authorities reported collecting critical engineering data and launched a comprehensive review and technical reassessment.
- The 70.4-meter, ~437-metric-ton vehicle is part of a wider push to cut launch costs for large constellations, as the U.S. remains the only nation to return orbital-class boosters with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Blue Origin’s New Glenn; further Chinese tests include CASC’s Long March 10 series in 2026 and a planned Zhuque-3 follow-up.