Long March 6A

Long March 6A
	Rendering of Long March 6A
Function	Medium-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology
Country of origin	China
Size
Height	50 m (160 ft); 52 m (171 ft) with extended fairing
Diameter	3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Mass	530,000 kg (1,170,000 lb)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	8,000 kg (18,000 lb)
Payload to 700 km (430 mi) SSO
Mass	4,500 kg (9,900 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	Long March
Comparable	Antares; Soyuz-2
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Taiyuan, LA-9A
Total launches	9
Success(es)	9
First flight	29 March 2022
Last flight	5 December 2024
Boosters – FG-112
No. boosters	4
Height	15.1 m (50 ft)
Diameter	2.0 m (6 ft 7 in)
Maximum thrust	1,214 kN (273,000 lbf)
Total thrust	4,828 kN (1,085,000 lbf)
Propellant	solid
First stage
Height	30.5 m (100 ft)
Diameter	3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Powered by	2 × YF-100
Maximum thrust	2,376 kN (534,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	SL: 300 s (2.9 km/s); vac: 335 s (3.29 km/s);
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
Second stage
Diameter	3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Powered by	1 × YF-115
Maximum thrust	180 kN (40,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	vac: 341.5 s (3.349 km/s)
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
	[edit on Wikidata]

The Long March 6A (Chinese: 长征六号甲运载火箭) or Chang Zheng 6A as in pinyin, abbreviated LM 6A for export or CZ 6A within China, is a Chinese medium-lift launch vehicle in the Long March family, which was developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) ^[5] and the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST).

The vehicle is a further development of the Long March 6, with two YF-100 engines on the first stage as opposed to one on the Long March 6, augmented by four solid rocket boosters. The Long March 6A is China's first rocket with solid rocket boosters. There also exists a shorter boosterless variant of the 6A called the Long March 6C.

The maiden launch of the Long March 6A took place on March 29, 2022, successfully reaching orbit.^[6] It was also the first launch from the newly built launch complex 9A in Taiyuan.

Launch statistics

5

2022

2023

2024

2025

Failure
Partial failure
Success
Planned

List of launches

Flight number	Serial number	Date (UTC)	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Result
1	Y1	29 March 2022 09:50^[6]	Taiyuan, LA-9A	Pujiang-2 Tiankun-2	SSO	Success
2	Y2	11 November 2022 22:52	Taiyuan, LA-9A	Yunhai-3 01	SSO	Success
3	Y5	10 September 2023 04:30	Taiyuan, LA-9A	Yaogan 40A Yaogan 40B Yaogan 40C	LEO	Success
4	Y4	31 October 2023 22:50	Taiyuan, LA-9A	Tianhui 5A Tianhui 5B	SSO	Success
5	Y3	26 March 2024 22:51	Taiyuan, LA-9A	Yunhai-3 02	SSO	Success
6	Y7	4 July 2024 22:49	Taiyuan, LA-9A	Tianhui 5C Tianhui 5D	SSO	Success
7	Y21	6 August 2024 06:42	Taiyuan, LA-9A	Qianfan × 18 (G60 Polar Group 01)	Polar	Success
8	Y20	15 October 2024 11:06	Taiyuan, LA-9A	Qianfan × 18 (G60 Polar Group 02)	Polar	Success
9	Y22	5 December 2024 04:41	Taiyuan, LA-9A	Qianfan × 18 (G60 Polar Group 03)	Polar	Success
10	Y?	January 2025	Taiyuan, LA-9A	Qianfan × 18 (G60 Polar Group 05)	Polar	Planned

Mishaps

After the release of the Yunhai 3 following the Y2 launch of 11 November 2022, the Long March 6's upper stage broke up into more than 50 pieces of debris, which expanded to more than 781 pieces. The vehicle was supposed to re-enter in one piece and then burn up. ^[7]^[8] Following the November 2022 breakup, similar events were observed after the 26 March 2024, 4 July 2024, and 6 August 2024 launches. The reason for the break ups are unclear, but may be related to upper stage passivation or insulation.^[9]^[10]

References

^ "[Technology·Aerospace] Long March 6A carrier rocket and its technical features!". 2022-06-26. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b ZHANG Wei-dong, WANG Dong-bao (2016). "New Generation Cryogenic Quick Launching Launch Vehicle and Development". Aerospace Shanghai.
^ "Chinese YF-100 (Russian RD-120) to Power CZ-5". SPACEPAC, The Space Public Affairs Committee. Archived from the original on 2017-10-25. Retrieved 2015-07-02.
^ "中国新一代液氧煤油发动机3：YF100/115主要特性 - 深空网". www.shenkong.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
^ "Development of China's new "Changzheng 6" carrier rocket commences". People's Daily Online. 2009-09-04. Retrieved 6 September 2009.
^ ^a ^b Beil, Adrian (29 March 2022). "China debuts Chang Zheng 6A, teases more variants". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
^ Jones, Andrew. "Chinese rocket body breaks up in orbit after successful satellite launch". Space.com. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
^ "Evolution of Major Debris Clouds in Low Earth Orbit" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
^ Jones, Andrew (2024-07-12). "China's Long March 6A rocket appears to have an orbital debris problem". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
^ @S4S_SDA (7 August 2024). "#S4S has confirmed the breakup of a Chinese Long March 6A rocket launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China, on Aug. 7, 2024. Analysis ongoing. #spacedebris #SDA @SpaceTrackOrg @US_SpaceCom" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 August 2024 – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[1] "[Technology·Aerospace] Long March 6A carrier rocket and its technical features!". 2022-06-26. Retrieved 6 August 2024.

[New_Generation_Cryogenic_Quick_Launching_Launch_Vehicle_and_Development-2] ZHANG Wei-dong, WANG Dong-bao (2016). "New Generation Cryogenic Quick Launching Launch Vehicle and Development". Aerospace Shanghai.

[spacepac-3] "Chinese YF-100 (Russian RD-120) to Power CZ-5". SPACEPAC, The Space Public Affairs Committee. Archived from the original on 2017-10-25. Retrieved 2015-07-02.

[shenkongnet-4] "中国新一代液氧煤油发动机3：YF100/115主要特性 - 深空网". www.shenkong.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-04-11.

[5] "Development of China's new "Changzheng 6" carrier rocket commences". People's Daily Online. 2009-09-04. Retrieved 6 September 2009.

[nsf-20220329-6] Beil, Adrian (29 March 2022). "China debuts Chang Zheng 6A, teases more variants". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 29 March 2022.

[7] Jones, Andrew. "Chinese rocket body breaks up in orbit after successful satellite launch". Space.com. Retrieved 7 December 2022.

[8] "Evolution of Major Debris Clouds in Low Earth Orbit" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 8 August 2024.

[9] Jones, Andrew (2024-07-12). "China's Long March 6A rocket appears to have an orbital debris problem". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-08-08.

[10] @S4S_SDA (7 August 2024). "#S4S has confirmed the breakup of a Chinese Long March 6A rocket launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China, on Aug. 7, 2024. Analysis ongoing. #spacedebris #SDA @SpaceTrackOrg @US_SpaceCom" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 August 2024 – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

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v t e Long March (rocket family)
Rockets	Feng Bao 1 Long March 1 1D Long March 2 2A 2C 2D 2E 2F Long March 3 3A 3B 3B/E 3C Long March 4 4A 4B 4C Long March 5 5B Long March 6 6A 6C Long March 7 7A Long March 8 8A Long March 9 Long March 10 Long March 11 11H Long March 12
Launch sites	Jiuquan Taiyuan Wenchang Commercial Xichang
Manufacturers	China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology
Designers	Wang Xiji
List of Long March launches

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H 12 LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Deca Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 RS1^† Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

Launch statistics

List of launches

Mishaps

See also

References