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China launched Long March-12A reusable rocket at the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Test Zone at 10 am on Tuesday. The second stage of the rocket entered the preset orbit, but the first stage recovery failed. The cause is under further analysis and investigation, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

The Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday said that orbital flight experiment has achieved basic success.

Although this mission did not achieve the planned first-stage recovery goal, it obtained critical engineering data under real flight conditions for the rocket, laying an important foundation for subsequent launches and reliable sub-stage recovery. The development team will conduct a comprehensive review and technical debrief of this test process, identify the root cause of the fault, continuously optimize the recovery plan and advance reusable technology verification, per the CNSA release.

The Long March-12A is a medium-lift liquid oxygen-methane fueled carrier rocket with "first-stage reusability" as its core feature. The rocket has a total length of 70.4 meters, with both its first and second stages measuring of 3.8 meters in diameter. Its fairing diameter reaches  4.2 meters, and its liftoff mass is about 437 tons.

Global Times