Last weekend, China made the first launch of its new Long March 12 rocket. The rocket launched two experimental satellites into space, about which nothing is known. But the rocket is interesting to others – it was lifted into space by new engines, which in the future promise to be part of a rocket to deliver the Chinese to the Moon. The success of the mission was the first step on this path.
Image source: Xinhua
According to previous information, the Long March 12 rocket uses four new YF-100K engines using an oxygen/kerosene fuel mixture. According to one version of the Chinese lunar program, the Long March 10 lunar rocket will use 21 such engines: seven in a pair of side boosters and seven in the first stage.
In the meantime, China has announced the launch of the thickest missile in its arsenal. The diameter of Long March 12 was 3.85 m, while most Chinese space rockets have a diameter of 3.35 m. Thanks to the increased body volume, the new rocket holds 30% more fuel in enlarged tanks. This will allow more payload to be lifted into orbit. In particular, the medium-lift Long March 12 rocket can lift from 10 to 12 tons of cargo into low Earth orbit and up to 6 tons into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 km.
The officially announced task of the Long March 12 rocket will be to participate in the creation of the Qianfan and Guowang satellite constellations with a capacity of 13 thousand each for the purpose of Internet coverage of the Earth in the interests of China and its partners.