Long March 12A Reaches Orbit in Reusable Rocket Debut, Booster Landing Falls Short Written 23 December 2025

Long March 12A Reaches Orbit in Reusable Rocket Debut, Booster Landing Falls Short

Rendering of a Long March 12 | Credit: Shujianyang; Wikipedia; CC BY-SA 4.0

Space News reports, “A first launch of the Long March 12A Chinese state-owned reusable rocket reached orbit late Monday, but attempted recovery of the first stage downrange failed. The Long March 12A rocket lifted off at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, Dec. 22 (0200 UTC, Dec. 23) from a dedicated pad at Jiuquan spaceport’s Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Zone. Amateur footage of the launch quickly appeared on Chinese social media.”
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