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| Attribute | Long March 6 (incl. 6A / 6C variants) 🇨🇳 China Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-07-26Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Avio / Arianespace | LandSpace | SAST (Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology) / CASC |
| Country | 🇪🇺 Europe | 🇨🇳 China | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Medium | Medium |
| Propellant | Solid (HTPB + ammonium perchlorate all four stages) | CH₄ / LOX (9× TQ-12B first stage; TQ-15B vacuum upper stage) | RP-1 / LOX (stages 1–2); N2O4/UDMH (stage 3, base variant) |
| Reusable | No | Yes | No |
| Stages | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 2022 | 2025 | 2015 |
| Payload to LEO | 2,300 kgas of [1]SSO: ~1,700 kg | 21,000 kgas of [1]Expendable; ~18,300 kg with first-stage recovery ↑ Best | 1,080 kg to SSO (base Long March 6)as of [1]Long March 6A (4 solid boosters, elongated stage 1): at least 4,000 kg to SSO. Long March 6C: similar class without the boosters. Both variants first flew from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 35 mas of [1] | 76.2 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 29 m (base variant)as of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 210 tas of [1] | ~660 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 103 t (base variant)as of [1] |
| Success rate | 75%as of [2]6/8 successes; VV22 (Dec 2022) Zefiro-40 failure destroyed Pléiades Neo 5&6; returned to flight VV25 (Dec 2024). 3 successes in 2025. | 100%as of [2]1/1 orbital successes (Y1, Dec 3, 2025). First-stage recovery failed — abnormal combustion during the landing burn crashed the booster near the landing zone. | 100% (base Long March 6, 15/15)as of [1]6A first flew 2022-03-29, 6C first flew 2024-05-07; both maintain perfect records within their own flight histories as of this date. ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 8as of [2] | 1as of [3]Second orbital launch and recovery attempt targeted Q2 2026 per LandSpace | 15 (base variant)as of [1] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$16,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$38M list price / 2,300 kg ↓ Cheapest | — | — |
| Summary | Europe's primary small satellite launcher derived from Vega. The P120C first-stage motor is shared with Ariane 6's solid strap-on boosters. Avio took over programme management from Arianespace in Dec 2025. | LandSpace's stainless-steel, reusable methalox rocket — China's closest analogue to Falcon 9. The Y1 debut (Dec 3, 2025) reached orbit on the first attempt but lost the booster during its landing attempt; a second flight with another recovery attempt is targeted for Q2 2026. | A family of medium-lift launchers from SAST serving China's growing SSO/LEO commercial and government satellite demand, with the 6A and 6C variants adding solid boosters or a simplified expendable configuration respectively. |
48 launch vehicles across 10 countries — active, retired, and in development — with primary-source citations from manufacturer user guides and agency press kits. Pure URL state: bookmark or share the link and the comparison reproduces exactly.