China's Long March-12B rocket completes successful maiden flight

Source-stated date: 1 June 2026 · China Military Online (EN)

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Record history

Published1 June 2026, by CMC Political Work Department
Collected2026-06-01 18:24:16 UTC, run 44
Machine readingAnalyzed
AnalysisNot in a published issue's source trail

Summary

Machine summary

The Long March-12B Y1 carrier rocket flew its maiden mission on June 1, 2026, lifting off at 16:40 Beijing time from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in Jiuquan and successfully delivering a batch of Qianfan Constellation networking satellites to their target orbits. The launch extends the Long March series to 647 total missions and adds a new vehicle to the roster supporting Qianfan, the low-Earth-orbit broadband megaconstellation that Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology is building as a direct competitor to Starlink; what remains unknown from this report is the number of satellites delivered and the specific orbital parameters achieved.

Machine-generated from the original text, and distinct from the machine translation of the title. Not reviewed by a human. It is a reading of what was published, not a verification of it.

Stored source text

Source record

Text captured from the source page. Extraction may omit material or include unrelated page elements; consult the original URL when exact wording or completeness matters.

A Long March-12B Y1 carrier rocket blasts off from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, on June 1, 2026. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua) JIUQUAN, June 1 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday successfully launched the Long March-12B Y1 carrier rocket into space from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China. The rocket blasted off at 4:40 p.m. (Beijing Time), sending a group of networking satellites for the Qianfan Constellation into their preset orbits. The mission was declared a complete success. The mission was the maiden flight of Long March-12B rocket, and marked the 647th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series. A Long March-12B Y1 carrier rocket blasts off from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, on June 1, 2026. (Photo by Li Yunxi/Xinhua) A Long March-12B Y1 carrier rocket blasts off from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, on June 1, 2026. (Photo by Li Yunxi/Xinhua) The rocket blasted off at 4:40 p.m. (Beijing Time), sending a group of networking satellites for the Qianfan Constellation into their preset orbits. (Photo by Li Yunxi/Xinhua) The rocket blasted off at 4:40 p.m. (Beijing Time), sending a group of networking satellites for the Qianfan Constellation into their preset orbits. (Photo by Li Yunxi/Xinhua)

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Provenance

What is known about this record and where each part came from.
Desk	China Desk
Publishing institution	CMC Political Work Department
Source outlet	China Military Online (EN) (china_mil_online)
Source language	en — an attribute of the source, not of this record
Source-stated publication date	2026-06-01
Original URL	http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/2025xb/H_251454/L_251456/16464953.html
Collected at	2026-06-01 18:24:16 — collection metadata, not a publication time
Content fingerprint	31af2e22a80b9482a5a52af5c62a9dd9a279078bb5be908bb21eefab3c4015d8 — taken when the record was captured, over the stored original title and text
Collection run	44
Analysis model	claude-sonnet-4-6
Prompt version	v1

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Source record This item was published at the URL above on the date the source stated.
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It does not establish that the described events occurred, that any capability exists, or that the institution's stated position is its actual policy.

Cite this record

Two separate claims, cited separately: the item as its publisher issued it, and the record as this corpus holds it.

Source text. CMC Political Work Department. "China's Long March-12B rocket completes successful maiden flight." China Military Online (EN), 2026-06-01. http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/2025xb/H_251454/L_251456/16464953.html.

As held. Indo-Pacific Record, Research Atlas corpus, Record 944, Snapshot — 2026-10-15 (873 records).

Processing note. The English title and summary held for this record are machine-generated and have not been reviewed by a human.

The record number and this record path are locators inside the 2026-10-15 snapshot. Neither is a DOI, accession number, permanent identifier, public permalink, or published route. See identifiers and citation guidance.

1 June 2026 Monday Source-stated publication date

CMC Political Work Department
via China Military Online (EN)