On July 23, 2025, Shanghai Yuanxin issued a bidding announcement for the 2025 launch vehicle service procurement project. A total of 7 launch services are invited for bidding. Package 1 is for 4 launch services with one rocket and 10 satellites. Package 2 is for 3 launch services with one rocket and 18 satellites. The service/delivery period is from the date of signing the contract to March 2026. Let’s briefly talk about the situation of package one.
1. Overview of Bidding Contents (Package 1)
(1) Requirements
1. The bidding product must have a carrying capacity of not less than 2.8 tons in a 950-kilometer near-polar orbit.
2. Bidding products that have successful flight experience before the announcement date must provide a signed version of the “Flight Result Analysis and Evaluation Conclusion”.
(2) Price
The maximum price is RMB 55,000 per kilogram including tax. The project is delivered in orbit, and the cost includes meeting service usage and acceptance requirements and completing all related services (including launch site fees and third-party liability insurance fees, etc.).
(3) Bid opening time
August 11, 2025 10:30
2. Let’s talk briefly
By analyzing the carrying capacity of sun-synchronous orbits that are similar to near-polar orbits, and taking into account price, whether the rocket has successful flight experience before the announcement date, etc., we will see which rockets have the opportunity to participate in the bidding.
(1) Private rocket companies
Currently, among the rocket types of private rocket companies, the following rockets have successful flight experience before Yuanxin’s announcement date: Tianlong 2, Suzaku 2E, Lijian 1, Gravity 1, Hyperbola 1, and Ceres 1.
Yuanxin’s bidding requirement is that the bid products must have a carrying capacity of not less than 2.8 tons in a 950-kilometer near-polar orbit. Therefore, rockets with an SSO (500 km) carrying capacity of less than 4 tons may not have a good chance of participating in the bidding.
1. Rocket capacity data
The SSO (500 km) capacity data of the above 6 rockets are as follows:
Tianlong 2: SSO (500 km) transport capacity 1.5 tons;
Zhuque 2E: SSO (500 km) transport capacity 4 tons;
Lijian No. 1: SSO (500 km) transport capacity 1.5 tons;
Gravity One: SSO (500 km) transport capacity 4.2 tons;
Hyperbola One: SSO (500 km) transport capacity 300 kg;
Ceres 1: SSO (500 km) capacity 300 kg.
Therefore, among the six rockets above, the only ones that may have the opportunity to participate are Suzaku-2E and Gravity-1.
2. Introduction to Rockets
(1) Suzaku No. 2E
Zhuque-2E (ZQ-2E) is a medium-sized launch vehicle developed by Blue Arrow Aerospace based on the Zhuque-2 (ZQ-2) liquid oxygen methane rocket. As the world’s first liquid oxygen methane rocket to successfully enter orbit, Zhuque 2 successfully returned to flight in July 2023, filling the gap in the domestic liquid rocket spectrum and verifying the high efficiency and environmental protection advantages of liquid oxygen methane propellant. Based on this, Blue Arrow Aerospace has developed the Zhuque-2E launch vehicle through optimizing design, improving transportation capacity and reducing costs. The LEO (200 km) transportation capacity is 6 tons and the SSO (500 km) transportation capacity is 4 tons. The first flight will be completed on November 27, 2024.
(2) Gravity One
Gravity-1 (YL-1) is a bundled solid launch vehicle developed by Oriental Space. It has a three-stage and semi-configuration, with a core stage diameter of 2.65 meters and four boosters bundled. A single booster has a diameter of 2.65 meters and a height of more than 10 meters. If a solid upper stage is added, the rocket height will be about 29.4 meters. If a liquid upper stage is added, the rocket height will be about 36 meters. On January 11, 2024, Gravity-1 made its first flight successfully. Changguang Satellite once purchased 4 Gravity-1 rockets, with a total contract price of 780 million yuan, and each Gravity-1 rocket was 195 million yuan. The above price is a bulk purchase price, which should be more favorable than purchasing a single rocket or carpooling.
(2) National Aerospace Team
Among the rockets of the national team, the rockets with SSO (500 km) capacity greater than 4 tons include the following models: Long March 3B, Long March 5, Long March 6A, Long March 7, Long March 8, Long March 8A, and Long March 12. Considering the rocket launch frequency and price factors, it is unlikely to choose the CZ-5 series.
1. Relevant rocket capacity data
Long March 3B: SSO (700 km): >4.5 tons
Long March 5: SSO (700 km): >15 tons
Long March 6A: SSO (700 km): 5 tons
Long March 7: SSO (700 km): 5.5 tons
Long March 8: SSO (700 km): 5.5 tons (CZ-822(HO))
SSO (700 km): 3 tons (CZ-820(HO))
Long March 8A: SSO (700 km): 7 tons
Long March 12: SSO (700 km): ≮6 tons
2. Introduction to related rockets
(1) Long March 3B
The Long March 3B was developed by the First Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology. It is mainly used to launch heavy-duty satellites in geostationary transfer orbits, Beidou navigation satellites, etc. It is a three-stage semi-configuration rocket with 4 boosters, each booster is equipped with a YF-25 engine. The diameter of the first-level core, the second-level core is 3.35 meters, the diameter of the third-level core is 3 meters, and the total arrow height is 56.3 meters. The booster has a diameter of 2.25 meters and a total length of 16.094 meters. On February 15, 1996, Long March 3B made its first flight. So far, Long March 3B has carried out 110 missions with a success rate of 96.39%. According to China Satcom’s launch and measurement and control contracts for ChinaSat 6C, ChinaSat 6D, ChinaSat 6E, and ChinaSat 26, the total price of the Long March 3B high-orbit mission launch services averages 390 million yuan (including rocket and measurement and control prices), and the unit payload launch service price is approximately 70,900 yuan/kg. ChinaStar 6C, ChinaStar 6D, ChinaStar 6E, and ChinaStar 26 all play GEO.
(2) Long March No. 6A
The Long March 6A is my country’s first solid-liquid bundled medium-sized launch vehicle. It is a rocket developed based on the successful first flight of the Long March 6 and fully inheriting existing technologies. It is mainly used to carry out low-Earth orbit (LEO) and sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) launch missions. The LEO carrying capacity is more than 8 tons, and the SSO (500km) carrying capacity is not less than 6.5 tons. In addition, the Long March 6A is also the only model among my country’s new generation Long March series of medium-sized launch vehicles that can be launched from inland launch sites. Currently, all launches of the Long March 6A are launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center LC-9A station, using the “one horizontal and two vertical” (horizontal transfer, vertical assembly, vertical test) test and launch mode, relying on a fixed launch tower for launch, and the test and launch cycle is about 14 days.
(3) Long March 7
Long March 7 was developed by the First Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology. It has a two-stage and a half configuration. The rocket core stage has a diameter of 3.35 meters and a height of 53.075 meters. It has four general-purpose boosters with a diameter of 2.25 meters and a single length of 26.903 meters. On June 25, 2016, Long March 7 successfully made its first flight at the Wenchang Space Launch Site. When the Long March 7 project was established, it was positioned as the kerosene-replaced version of the Long March 2 F (CZ-2F/H) and was responsible for cargo and manned missions. The manned plan has been cancelled. According to the plan, the main payload of the basic version of Long March 7 is the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft. The spacecraft supports the on-orbit construction of my country’s space station with a launch frequency of twice a year. Starting from Tianzhou 6, due to the increase in transportation capacity, it has gradually changed to a launch frequency of three times every two years to support the normal operation of my country’s space station. The Long March 7 can not only launch the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft, but also other low-orbit satellites, and can even be combined with an upper stage to complete the launch mission of two satellites or multiple satellites.
(4) Long March 8
The Long March 8 was developed by the First Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology and successfully completed its first flight on December 22, 2020. The Long March 8 has two configurations: CZ-822 (HO) and CZ-820 (HO). The CZ-820 (HO) configuration has no bundled boost, with a core level of 3.35 meters, a core level of 3 meters, a height of 48 meters, a take-off thrust of about 240 tons, and a take-off thrust-to-weight ratio of about 1.21. CZ-822 (HO) is bundled with two 2.25-meter-diameter liquid boosters with a height of 50.34 meters. A total of four YF-100 core first-stage and booster boosters provide a take-off thrust of approximately 480 tons, and a take-off thrust-to-weight ratio of approximately 1.35. As a derivative model of the Long March 7, the Long March 8 fully inherited the existing technology and used a modular design so that it could share the production line with the main models, reducing costs to a certain extent. However, it also inherited the shortcomings of existing modules to a certain extent.
(5) Long March No. 8A
The Long March 8A is a medium-sized liquid launch vehicle developed by the First Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology. Compared with the Long March 8, the Long March 8A is equipped with a universal hydrogen-oxygen final stage and a larger-diameter fairing, which makes up for my country’s urgent need for low-orbit giant constellation network launches in the future. The Long March 8A is a two-stage semi-configuration with two boosters. The core diameter is 3.35 meters, the boost diameter is 2.25 meters, the height is 50.539 meters, the mass is about 371 tons, and the sun-synchronous orbit payload (700km) transport capacity is about 7 tons. The Long March 8A carrier rocket can be launched from Station 201 of the Wenchang Space Launch Site and Station 1 of the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site.
(6) Long March No. 12
Long March 12 was developed by the Eighth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology. It has a two-stage configuration. In the early stage of development, the Eighth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology raised its own funds to develop it, code-named XLV20. In January 2024, XLV20 was officially named Long March 12. Long March 12 is not only my country’s first 3.8-meter-diameter rocket, but also the first rocket in the Long March series to use coal-based aerospace kerosene to fly into space. my country’s national situation is rich in coal and little oil. Different from traditional petroleum-based aerospace kerosene, coal-based aerospace kerosene solves the historical problem of a single source of raw materials for my country’s aerospace kerosene. From a power point of view, the first-stage YF-100J of the Long March 12, as a deeply improved version of the YF-100, maximizes the potential of the YF-100 and provides strong and efficient power for the Long March 12. However, the performance of the second-stage YF-115 is somewhat tasteless. As the first-generation liquid oxygen kerosene engine developed in my country, the nozzle area of the YF-115 is relatively conservative and the specific impulse is unsatisfactory. Among my country’s new generation launch vehicles, all rockets that use YF-115 have a payload ratio far lower than rockets that do not use YF-115. The most typical one is the Long March 7A. The second-stage working section requires the engine to provide a positive angle of attack to resist gravity loss, which seriously reduces the rocket’s capacity.
