China debuts $553 million spaceport with launch of new Long March-12 rocket (video)

Last week, China successfully debuted its new launch vehicle Long March-12, delivering two experimental satellites into orbit and marking the inaugural flight from the country’s first commercial spaceport that will support the country’s upcoming surge in commercial space activity, including deploying large satellite networks.

The 205-foot (62.6-meter) Long March-12 rocket lifted off on Nov. 30 from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site in China’s Hainan Island. On board were two experimental satellites that were delivered to unspecified orbits 23 minutes post-launch, state media reported early on Dec. 1. The rocket’s maker, the state-owned Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, said the payloads were “Satellite Internet Technology Test Satellite” and “Technology Test Satellite-3” but did not provide further details, according to SpaceNews.

The two-stage Long March-12 rocket is the newest addition to the fleet of Long March launchers, the first of which debuted in April 1970 and made China only the fifth nation to achieve independent access to space. The newest rocket, which uses kerosene and liquid hydrogen fuels in contrast to toxic hypergolic propellants used by its predecessors, is capable of ferrying 10 tons to low-Earth orbit (LEO) or 6 tons to a typical sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers (430 miles).

“It is the first Chinese rocket equipped with an automatic ignition-malfunction detection system,” Xie Li, who is a senior designer of Long March-12, told the state-owned China Daily. “After the engines are ignited, the system will detect whether the engines are functioning well, and if the result is good, the system will unleash the hold-down clamps, allowing the engines to reach full power to lift off.”