The Pallas-1 rocket vertical at the pad at Jiuquan's commercial launch test zone in May 2026. Credit: Galactic Energy
HELSINKI — A number of new Chinese state-led and commercial rockets are set for debuts and fresh first stage recovery attempts in the coming weeks and months.
Rockets from state-owned CASC and commercial entities including Galactic Energy, iSpace and more are in various states of readiness for long-awaited debuts. The surge is a part of China’s aim to greatly boost its access to space and ease a launch bottleneck for its megaconstellation projects.
CASC’s Long March 12B recently appeared vertical on the pad at Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Zone within the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, northwest China, according to unofficial images. It follows a January hotfire test of the new rocket.
The images indicate landing legs, but it is unclear if there will be an attempt at a first stage recovery when the launcher gets its test flight.
