China successfully launched a Long March 12 rocket on August 16, 2026, carrying a new batch of satellites for the Guowang low-Earth-orbit communications constellation, less than a week after the failure of a Long March 7A rocket. This was followed by the launch of a Long March 2C rocket carrying an experimental Emirati Earth-observation satellite, in two missions reflecting the continuation of Chinese space activity despite the grounding of one of its main rockets.
New Batch for the Guowang Constellation
Long March 12 lifted off at 12:10 a.m. Eastern Time, or 04:10 UTC, from the second launch pad at the Hainan Commercial Spacecraft Launch Center in southern China. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced the mission’s success and revealed that the payload consisted of new satellites for the Guowang constellation.
The mission represented the twenty-fourth operational batch launched for the constellation, bringing the number of its satellites in orbit to 195, not counting the experimental satellites associated with the program. According to announced plans, Guowang aims to deploy about 13,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, but CASC did not release details or images of the satellites carried by this mission.
The mission was operated by China Commercial Rocket, a CASC subsidiary known by the abbreviation CACL, which differs from China Rocket Co., which operates the Jielong solid-fuel rocket series. This was the seventh launch of the standard expendable version of Long March 12. CASC also operates the methane-liquid-oxygen-powered Long March 12A and the kerosene-liquid-oxygen-powered Long March 12B; both reached orbit on their maiden flights, with no first stage recovered so far.
What Does the Launch Mean After the Long March 7A Failure?
Long March 12 uses YF-100K engines, which belong to the same family associated with the Long March 7A rocket. The success of the new launch therefore indicates that the problem that caused the 7A failure on August 10 may not have been related to the engine, although the source does not provide a final investigation finding.
The grounding of Long March 7A is expected to affect the plans and scheduling of launches headed to geostationary orbit and related orbits. The repercussions may also extend to Long March 3B, as that rocket inherited its third stage from 7A and had only recently returned to service following a failure in January.
Local reports also pointed to the speed of preparations at the Hainan pad; it shifted from supporting a five-meter-diameter rocket to the smaller-diameter Long March 12 after hosting the historic Long March 10B flight in early July. Long March 12 occupied the pad for only 2.5 days before launch.
Experimental Emirati Earth-Observation Satellite
Later on August 16 Eastern Time, China launched a Long March 2C rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the north of the country at 11:02 p.m., or 03:02 UTC on August 17. The rocket carried an Emirati satellite named “Satellite for Earth Observation,” or SEO, into orbit, according to China Great Wall Industry Corporation, a CASC subsidiary responsible for facilitating international launch contracts.
The satellite aims to develop advanced space technologies and provide data and insights supporting environmental protection, natural-resource management, and improved planning and decision-making. It is a project of the National Space Science and Technology Center at the United Arab Emirates University, in cooperation with the UAE Space Agency and Chinese partners.
The launches were China’s fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth during 2026, respectively—not the eighty-fifth?—while the country aims to conduct more than 100 launches this year. Zhuque-3 may attempt a launch and recovery in the following days, while Galactic Energy’s Pallas-1 rockets may debut from the commercial innovation zone in Jiuquan.