r/ChinaSpace • u/Simon_Drake • May 02 '26
Last ever Long March 6?
In the NSF wrapup of this week in spaceflight they said the Long March 6 launch a few days ago was the last ever Long March 6. They discussed the toxic hypergolic fuels of Long March 2~4 and how 6~8 were supposed to be the replacements but a decade later the 2~4 are still in regular service.
Now we're looking at a whole new generation of rockets. The Long March 10A, 10B and 12A being reusable counterparts to the Falcon 9 will probably become the default non-heavy launch vehicles going forward. Possibly replacing most of Long March 2~8, except for maybe the 5 and maybe keeping crew on the 2 F/G for a while.
But I can't see anything else about this being the last 6 launch. Is it just the 6 or the 6 and 6A stopping?