The first Chinese state-owned reusable launch vehicle "Changzheng-12A" made its debut launch, but the return of its first stage was unsuccessful.
The reusable rocket "Changzheng-12A" was launched from the Jiuquan launch site in northwest China at 4 a.m. Kyiv time on Tuesday, December 23. This is the first state-owned reusable rocket in China, developed by the Shanghai Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, which is China's main state space contractor. The launch of the new rocket did not go entirely as planned, although the first flight of "Changzheng-12A" was deemed generally successful. The second stage of the rocket reached low Earth orbit, but the first stage was unable to return as planned, according to SpaceNews.
The debut launch of the Chinese reusable rocket "Zhuchue-3" earlier in December also ended in failure. Although the inaugural launch of the first state-owned reusable rocket "Changzheng-12A" was considered successful, it did not occur as planned. According to the plan, the second stage of the rocket was supposed to reach low Earth orbit, which it did, while the first stage was supposed to land shortly after launch at another launch site 250 km from the Jiuquan launch site, but it failed to do so.
Images and satellite photos circulated on social media suggest that the first stage of the rocket may have fallen two kilometers from the launch site. An investigation into the incident is currently underway to determine why the failure occurred, but as always, China keeps such information secret.
The reusable rocket "Changzheng-12A" is 62 meters long and has a diameter of 3.8 meters. It operates on methane and liquid oxygen. The rocket is based on the kerosene-powered "Changzheng-12" rocket, which is currently used to launch Chinese internet satellites. The "Changzheng-12A" rocket is capable of carrying 12 tons of payload to low Earth orbit.
So far, only two companies in the world are capable of launching reusable rockets into space. These are the American companies SpaceX and Blue Origin.
The incident with the "Changzheng-12A" rocket marks the second failure for China related to the launch of reusable rockets in one month. As previously reported by Focus, on December 3, the Chinese company LandSpace conducted the first launch of the reusable rocket "Zhuchue-3." However, this launch was unsuccessful, as the rocket crashed near the planned landing site.
