China's First 2026 Launch Enters Retrograde Orbit With Imaging Spacecraft [Long March 6A Y27]
Remote sensing spacecraft Yaogan-50-01 is set to image Earth below at a rapid rate thanks to its unique orbit.
For China’s first launch mission of the year, a Long March 6A blasted off from Launch Complex 9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on January 13th at 22:16 pm China Standard Time (14:16 pm Universal Coordinated Time), carrying a single payload into retrograde low Earth orbit1.
Riding atop of the rocket was the Yaogan-50-01 (遥感五十号01星) remote sensing satellite, developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. This spacecraft is reportedly tasked with land surveys, crop yield estimation, as well as disaster prevention and mitigation.
Being in a retrograde orbit of the Earth, Yaogan-50-01 will pass over its imaging targets at a more rapid pace than a regular low Earth orbit. Its inclination, from flying southwest out of Taiyuan, will also allow the spacecraft to image most of China.
Following the successful end of today’s launch mission, the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology shared that 2026’s first launch from Taiyuan took place in its cold winter, with temperatures as low as minus twenty-five degrees celsuis. To combat the cold, insulative materials were installed on the vehicle and heaters were plugged into critical areas to keep systems warm. This was accompanied by extra hardware checks to ensure the mission’s success.
Today’s launch was the 20th mission for the Long March 6A, the 257th Long March vehicle launch from the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, and the 624th launch of the Long March launch vehicle series. This was also the 1st launch from China in 2026.
Liftoff footage via 解放军报 on Weibo.
Check out the previous Long March 6A launch
What is the Long March 6A?
This section is for those less familiar with China’s Long March series of launch vehicles.
The Long March 6A is the first new-generation launch vehicle in China to utilize a combination of solid and liquid propellants. This vehicle was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology and utilizes a two-and-a-half-stage design, the boosters burn an unspecified solid propellant with the first and second stages burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen.
The payload capacity of the launch vehicle is currently as follows:
8,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit
4,500 kilograms to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit
The first-stage is powered by two YF-100 engines, generating a combined thrust of approximately 244 tons using rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen. The first-stage is augmented by four solid rocket boosters, each producing 124 tons of thrust from an unspecified solid propellant, resulting in a combined booster thrust of 492 tons. Together, the first-stage and boosters generate a total thrust of 736 tons. The second stage is powered by a single YF-115 engine, producing 18 tons of thrust using also burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen.
On the launchpad, the Long March 6A is believed to be up to 52 meters tall, a handful of fairings are available, and weighs 530,000 kilograms when fully fuelled. The first and second stages of the vehicle have a diameter of 3.35 meters while the solid-fuelled boosters have a diameter of 2 meters, the fairing has a diameter of 4.2 meters.
So far, every Long March 6A has launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, in the north of Shanxi province.
Against Earth’s rotation.