Won't scare SpaceX as it's not reusable, but will help Beijing do things like launch broadband sats

China launched a new class of rocket on Saturday, and for the first time used a commercial spaceport for the mission.

The rocket is the Long March 12, and can carry payloads of 12 tons to low-Earth orbit or hoist half that to Sun-synchronous orbit. The two-stage launcher is a single-core affair powered by a quartet of liquid oxygen-kerosene engines and on this mission used a 3.8-meter payload faring.

China's government has touted innovations including sensors that allow diagnosis of its performance, liquid oxygen-compatible cold helium pressurization, and aluminum-lithium alloy tanks.

The rocket is not reusable, though an engine designed to make that possible is apparently on the drawing board. It has, however, been designed for fast launch preparation. It can also accommodate a faring with diameter of 4.2 or 5.2 meters, to allow missions to carry cargoes with greater volume.

The launch took place at the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Center, located on an island province at China's southernmost point. It's the first launch from the site, which China expects will be used by its growing private space industry.

The first Long March 12 went aloft carrying a pair of experimental satellites that reached their desired orbits.

Beijing has boasted the new craft will improve China's ability to reach Sun-synchronous orbits that allow satellites to pass over the same point on Earth at the same time each day, which can be useful for weather observations - or surveillance. The rocket's ability to enhance "low-orbit constellation networking capability" is also mentioned in the announcement of the launch - a likely reference to the nation's space broadband plans.

China already flies more powerful boosters, but Long March 12 is considered important because of its improvement on previous rockets in its class - and the fact it's the nation's first four-meter class launcher.

The vehicle's debut won't worry SpaceX, whose Falcon 9 has it covered on most payload metrics. But Long March 12 is more capable than the two-booster version of the European Space Agency's Ariane 6.

In other space news, China last Friday announced it will refresh its "Beidou" network of navigation satellites by 2035. The third-generation constellation will comprise 24 medium-Earth orbit satellites, three more in geostationary orbit, and a further trio in inclined geosynchronous orbit satellites. Launches are scheduled to commence in 2029 and continue through 2035. ®