Long March 12

The Long March 12 carrier rocket, is a Chinese medium-lift launch vehicle currently under development by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. It will be capable of placing at least 10 tonnes of payload in low Earth orbit and at least 6 tonnes in a 700 km Sun-synchronous orbit. Its first launch is planned to take place in 2024 from the commercial pads at the Wenchang Space Launch Site.

Overview
On 26 February 2024, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) released its annual "Blue Book" which detailed the company's launch plans for the coming year; one of the projects revealed in the Blue Book is the new Long March 12 medium-lift rocket. Long March 12 (CZ-12) is designed as a two-stage rocket: its first stage will be powered by four YF-100K 1250 KN engines using RP-1 and liquid oxygen while its second stage will be powered by two YF-115 180 kN engines also using RP-1/LOX. The rocket offers two payload fairing choices, one with a diameter of 5.2 metres and another with a diameter of 4.2 metres.

CZ-12 has a stage diameter of 3.8 metres, a first for China. It will be launched from the new commercial launch site located at China's coastal spaceport in Wenchang.