Long March 6

Long March 6
	Maiden flight of Long March 6 rocket
Function	Small launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology
Country of origin	China
Size
Height	29 m (95 ft)
Diameter	3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Mass	103,000 kg (227,000 lb)
Stages	3
Capacity
Payload to 700 km (430 mi) SSO
Mass	1,080 kg (2,380 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	Long March
Comparable	Minotaur-C,; PSLV-CA
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Taiyuan, LA-16
Total launches	11
Success(es)	11
First flight	19 September 2015
Last flight	20 June 2023
First stage
Diameter	3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Propellant mass	61,000 kg (134,000 lb) to 76,000 kg (168,000 lb)
Powered by	1 YF-100
Maximum thrust	1,188 kN (267,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	300 seconds (sea level); 335 seconds (vacuum)
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
Second stage
Diameter	2.25 m (7 ft 5 in)
Propellant mass	15,000 kg (33,000 lb)
Powered by	1 YF-115
Maximum thrust	180 kN (40,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	341.5 seconds (vacuum)
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
Third stage
Diameter	2.25 m (7 ft 5 in)
Powered by	1
Maximum thrust	6.5 kN (1,500 lbf)
Specific impulse	306.9 seconds
Propellant	N2O4 / UDMH
	[edit on Wikidata]

The Long March 6 (Chinese: 长征六号运载火箭) or Chang Zheng 6 as in pinyin, abbreviated LM 6 for export or CZ 6 within China, is a Chinese liquid-fuelled launch vehicle of the Long March family, which was developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) ^[7] and the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST). The rocket was developed in the 2000s, and made its maiden flight in 2015.^[8] As one of the new generation rocket family, the Long March 6 was designed to be a light capacity, "high-speed response" rocket, complementing the heavy lift Long March 5 and the mid-heavy lift Long March 7 rocket families. It is capable of placing at least 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of payload into a Sun-synchronous orbit.^[9]^[8] The first stage of the Long March 6 was derived from the booster rockets being developed for the Long March 5 rocket. It is powered by a YF-100 engine, which generates 1,340 kN (300,000 lb_f) of thrust from burning kerosene and LOX as rocket fuel and oxidiser.^[8] This was the first flight of the new engine design.^[3]

An enlarged variant, the Long March 6A, which has four strap-on solid boosters, an elongated stage one, a new stage two with the same diameter as the first stage, and a payload capacity of at least 4000 kg to Sun-synchronous orbit, made its maiden flight on 29 March 2022.^[10] A further iteration named the Long March 6C with a slightly shorter length than the 6A and without the four strap-on solid boosters had its successful maiden launch on 7 May 2024.^[11]

Launch statistics

1

2

3

4

2015

2020

Failure
Partial failure
Success
Planned

List of launches

Flight number	Serial number	Date (UTC)	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Result
1	Y1	19 September 2015 23:01	Taiyuan, LA-16	ZDPS-2A, ZDPS-2B NS-2 ZJ-1, ZJ-2 Tiantuo 3 NUDT-Phone-Sat Xingchen 1/2/3/4 LilacSat 2 XY-2 DCBB Xiwang-2A/2B/2C/2E/2F	SSO	Success^[8]
2	Y2	21 November 2017 04:50	Taiyuan, LA-16	Jilin 1-04/05/06	SSO	Success
3	Y4	13 November 2019 06:35	Taiyuan, LA-16	Ningxia-1 01 Ningxia-1 02 Ningxia-1 03 Ningxia-1 04 Ningxia-1 05	LEO	Success
4	Y3	6 November 2020 03:19	Taiyuan, LA-16	ÑuSat 9-18 (10 satellites)	SSO	Success
5	Y5	27 April 2021 03:20	Taiyuan, LA-16	Qilu-1 Qilu-4 Foshan-1 Zhongan Guotong-1 Tianqi-9 Origin Space NEO-1 Tai King II 01 Golden Bauhinia-1 01 Golden Bauhinia-1 02	SSO	Success
6	Y6	9 July 2021 11:59	Taiyuan, LA-16	Zhuzhou-1 01 Zhuzhou-1 02 Zhuzhou-1 03 Zhuzhou-1 04 Zhuzhou-1 05	LEO	Success
7	Y7	4 August 2021 11:01	Taiyuan, LA-16	KL-Beta A KL-Beta B	Polar	Success
8	Y8	5 November 2021 02:19	Taiyuan, LA-16	Guangmu-1 (CASEarth)	SSO	Success
9	Y10	10 August 2022 04:50	Taiyuan, LA-16	Jilin-1 GF-03D09, 35-43 Yunyao-1 04–08 Tianjin Binghai-1	SSO	Success
10	Y9	26 September 2022 23:50	Taiyuan, LA-16	Shiyan 16A Shiyan 16B Shiyan 17	SSO	Success
11	Y12	20 June 2023 03:18	Taiyuan, LA-16	Shiyan 25	SSO	Success
12	Y?	Q4 2024	Taiyuan, LA-16	TBA	TBA	Planned

References

^ "China conducts debut launch of Long March 6". NASASpaceflight. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
^ "突破运力"下限"的长征6号" [Advances in Light Capacity Long March 6] (in Chinese). Tencent Military Channel. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
^ ^a ^b The Long March 6 launched a 20-star in Taiyuan to create the best in Asia Sept 2015
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d 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 25 October 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
^ "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 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
^ "Development of China's new "Changzheng 6" carrier rocket commences". People's Daily Online. 4 September 2009. Retrieved 6 September 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "China conducts debut launch of Long March 6". 19 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
^ "Long March 6 - Spaceflight101". Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
^ "CZ-6 (Chang Zheng-6)". space.skyrocket.de. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
^ Jones, Andrew (7 May 2024). "China launches first Long March 6C rocket". spacenews.com. Retrieved 7 May 2024.

[nasaspaceflight-1] "China conducts debut launch of Long March 6". NASASpaceflight. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.

[qq-2013-12-19-2] "突破运力"下限"的长征6号" [Advances in Light Capacity Long March 6] (in Chinese). Tencent Military Channel. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2015.

[News163-20-star-3] The Long March 6 launched a 20-star in Taiyuan to create the best in Asia Sept 2015

[New_Generation_Cryogenic_Quick_Launching_Launch_Vehicle_and_Development-4] ZHANG Wei-dong, WANG Dong-bao (2016). "New Generation Cryogenic Quick Launching Launch Vehicle and Development". Aerospace Shanghai.

[spacepac-5] "Chinese YF-100 (Russian RD-120) to Power CZ-5". SPACEPAC, The Space Public Affairs Committee. Archived from the original on 25 October 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2015.

[shenkongnet-6] "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 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.

[7] "Development of China's new "Changzheng 6" carrier rocket commences". People's Daily Online. 4 September 2009. Retrieved 6 September 2009.

[maidenflight-8] "China conducts debut launch of Long March 6". 19 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.

[9] "Long March 6 - Spaceflight101". Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.

[10] "CZ-6 (Chang Zheng-6)". space.skyrocket.de. Retrieved 2 November 2017.

[AJ-CZ6C-11] Jones, Andrew (7 May 2024). "China launches first Long March 6C rocket". spacenews.com. Retrieved 7 May 2024.

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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 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 LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased RS1^† Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega original C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 12 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 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 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

See also

References