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 toLEO
Mass	8,000 kg (18,000 lb)[1]
Payload to 500 km (310 mi)SSO
Mass	6,500 kg (14,300 lb)[2]
Payload to 700 km (430 mi)SSO
Mass	5,000 kg (11,000 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	Long March
Comparable	Antares Soyuz-2
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Taiyuan,LA-9A
Total launches	20
Success(es)	20
First flight	29 March 2022
Last flight	13 January 2026(most recent)
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)[3]
Specific impulse	SL: 300 s (2.9 km/s) vac: 335 s (3.29 km/s)[4]
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)[3]
Specific impulse	vac: 341.5 s (3.349 km/s)[5]
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
[edit on Wikidata]

TheLong March 6A (Chinese:长征六号甲运载火箭) orChang Zheng 6A as inpinyin, abbreviatedLM 6A for export orCZ 6A within China, is a Chinesemedium-lift launch vehicle in theLong March family, which was developed by theChina Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).^[6]

The vehicle is a further development of theLong March 6, with twoYF-100 engines on the first stage as opposed to one on the Long March 6, augmented by foursolid rocket boosters. The Long March 6A is China's first rocket with solid rocket boosters, and only one so far to combine solid and liquid fuel technology in one rocket.^[7] There also exists a shorter boosterless variant of the 6A called theLong March 6C.

The maiden launch of the Long March 6A took place on March 29, 2022, successfully reaching orbit.^[8] It was also the first launch from the newly built launch complex 9A inTaiyuan.

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.^[9][10] 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 stagepassivation or insulation.^[11][12]

• List of Long March launches (2025-2029)
• Comparison of orbital launchers families
• Comparison of orbital launch systems

• Long March (rocket family)
• 2022 in China
• Vehicles introduced in 2022
• Spacecraft that broke apart in space

• CS1 Chinese-language sources (zh)
• CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Chinese-language text