A Chinese state-owned company, without announcing results, conducted a rocket flight late Saturday to test reentry and landing burns.
The Longxing-2 test article launched around 10:00 p.m. Eastern, Jan. 18 (0300 UTC, Jan. 19) from a temporary launch site near Haiyang, Shandong province.
Longxing-2 is believed to be a test article for the Long March 12A reusable launcher developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST). Designed to mimic the first stage of a reusable flight, the rocket aimed for approximately 75 kilometers before attempting a reentry burn, powered descent, and splashdown in the Yellow Sea.
Amateur footage near the launch area showed a slow rocket ascent with no visible anomalies. This test built upon a successful 12-kilometer vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) test in June 2024.
SAST released results and footage from the June test but remained silent about the 75-km attempt, offering no updates more than 24 hours after launch. This lack of information raises questions about the test's success, hinting at potential challenges during reentry or landing.
State-owned SAST is one of many Chinese entities developing reusable launch vehicles. Reusability—first demonstrated by SpaceX for orbital launches—could significantly reduce costs and increase launch frequency for China.
This is vital for building megaconstellations like Guowang and Thousand Sails and could be crucial for crewed lunar missions, lunar infrastructure, and space-based solar power projects.
China attempted 68 launches last year, all using expendable rockets, many from older, toxic hypergolic Long March series rockets. The country aimed for around 100 launches, including state and commercial efforts.
The Longxing-2 test article reportedly uses methane-liquid oxygen engines from commercial firm Jiuzhou Yunjian (JZYJ). SAST and JZYJ collaborated on earlier, undisclosed VTVL tests.
SAST is part of the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), China’s main space contractor. CASC reportedly provided methane-liquid oxygen engine technology to commercial entities, which SAST appears to be using.
CASC is developing more powerful full flow staged combustion methalox engines for its Long March 9 super heavy-lift rocket.
SAST launched its expendable, kerosene-liquid oxygen Long March 12 for the first time in November 2024. The 12A will be a 3.8-meter-diameter launch vehicle adapted for reusability.
The Long March 12A is one of several reusable launchers under development in China. CASC is developing the reusable Long March 10 series for human spaceflight, along with the Long March 9 and 12A.
Commercial entities plan first flights for several rockets this year, including Zhuque-3 (Landspace), Tianlong-3 (Space Pioneer), Pallas-1 (Galactic Energy), and Kinetica-2 (CAS Space), all aiming for reusability at various stages. These are among numerous Chinese launch vehicles slated for 2025 debuts.
China is expanding its spaceports to address launch infrastructure bottlenecks. This includes the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Area at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site. The latter, according to China News Service (Jan. 17), plans to accelerate work on its third and fourth launch pads, potentially reaching up to 10 pads in the future. Haiyang, Longxing-2’s launch site, hosts China’s sea launch facilities, recently launching a Jielong-3 rocket and aiming for about 10 launches in 2025.