Tianlong 3 is a liquid launch vehicle developed by Tianbing Technology. It has a diameter of 3.8 meters, a total arrow length of 72 meters, a take-off mass of about 600 tons, an effective transportation capacity of 17-22 tons in low-Earth orbit, and a transportation capacity of 10-17 tons in sun-synchronous orbit.
In March 2022, Tianlong-3 will start development.
In November 2022, Tianlong-3’s first-stage engine “Tianhuo-12” completed a full-system hot test, comprehensively assessing the performance and reliability of the engine system in normal operating modes such as rated mixture ratio, high/low mixture ratio, starting conditions, tank pressure ignition, as well as emergency starting mode and extreme conditions. The development of Tianhuo-12 was launched in December 2020. It has a ground design thrust of 110 tons, a specific impulse of 285s, and a thrust-to-weight ratio of 163.
In March 2023, Tianhuo-12 completed its second full-system hot test, which comprehensively assessed the starting and steady-state operating characteristics of the engine system under rated inlet conditions, rated mixture ratio, and rated thrust conditions.
In July 2023, Tianhuo-12 completed the long-range thermal test run of the entire system. The test run product was in the Tianlong-3 Yaoyi flight product state. The test run was under rated operating conditions. The single test run lasted 100s and the cumulative time was 200s. Through multiple long-range hot tests under rated operating conditions, the correctness of the engine design status and the correctness of the engine batch production process were verified.
In October 2023, Tianhuo-12 completed the batch product sampling test run. The test run product is in the state of Tianlong 3 Yaoyi flight product. The test run is under rated flight conditions. According to the flight profile and entrance conditions, it has undergone process verification test run for 50 s. The single random inspection test run lasts 200 s, and the cumulative working time is 450 s.
In January 2024, Tianhuo-12 completed its first flight batch calibration hot test.
In March 2024, Tianhuo-12 completed the calibration hot test and was delivered for its first flight. Calibration hot test run is the last step in the engine delivery process. Its main purpose is to comprehensively assess the production quality of the engine, verify the engine operating conditions and mixture ratio adjustment accuracy, and inspect the overall quality and performance of the engine as a delivered flight product.
In May 2025, Tianlong-3 completed the fairing separation test, verifying the entire fairing separation process. The Tianlong-3 fairing has a diameter of 4.2 meters and a length of about 13 meters. It is made of all carbon fiber composite materials.
In September 2025, Tianlong 3 completed the full system test of the first-stage power system, verifying the correctness of the plan and work coordination of each system of the first-stage rocket. The test run process comprehensively covers the entire rocket ground test and launch process from propellant filling, multi-machine batch ignition, stable operation to programmed shutdown, covering the entire chain of rocket body structure, ground measurement and control, process systems, and safety control systems.
In October 2025, Tianlong-3 completed the “36 stars in one arrow” separation test.
In November 2025, Tianlong 3 completed the “36-stars in one rocket” transportation and vibration test, verifying the structural stability and dynamic characteristics of the “36-star combination” in ground transportation and flight vibration environments.
