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