HELSINKI — A state-funded tender for tank tooling, a delivered stainless steel forging and launch pad planning suggest that China is developing 7-meter-diameter reusable rockets.
China has been working on a range of state and commercially developed reusable launch vehicles in recent years, ranging from 3.8 meters, such as the already-flying Long March 12A and 12B, up to 10.6 meters for the more distant national Long March 9 program, expected to debut in the 2030s, with the efforts aimed at boosting launch cadence and payload capacity and enabling megaconstellation deployment and large space infrastructure projects.
China’s main space contractor now appears to be working on a new, powerful intermediate rocket with a diameter in the 7.0-meter range, according to recent developments. The nearest comparison would be to Blue Origin’s operational New Glenn 7-meter-diameter, partially reusable, two-stage methalox rocket.
A tender appeared on the electronic procurement platform of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) for a single 7-meter-class tank-dome welding system. This followed Shanghai-listed forging firm Wuxi Parker New Materials announcing June 4 that its subsidiary Paixin Aviation had passed acceptance and shipped a “7.5-meter-class ultra-large-diameter high-strength ring for aerospace use” made of S-03L martensitic stainless steel for an unnamed “important model.” An acceptance panel was formed from CASC’s China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) and the Central Iron and Steel Research Institute (CISRI).
The moves correlate with a development recommendation circulated in May 2023, in which a CALT-attributed presentation slide suggested developing rockets of 5 meters, 7 meters and 10 meters, variably using clusters of 130-metric-ton-thrust YF-100K kerolox engines, the 80-ton YF-209 methalox engine and a 200-ton methalox engine, yielding low Earth orbit (LEO) payload classes of roughly 15,000 kilograms, 25,000 kg, 50,000 kg and 100,000 kg.
The 5-meter-diameter class of vehicles corresponds to the Long March 10 series, including the 10 and 10A for crewed launches, and the 10B cargo variant—expected to have a debut flight in the near future—and the 10-meter, 100,000 kg-class vehicle to the super-heavy Long March 9.
The intermediate 7-meter step—with a 25,000 kg-class vehicle with 25 YF-209 engines and a 50,000 kg-class vehicle using 13 of the larger engines—has had no public profile and no announced designation.
The current activity suggests the 7-meter-plus line is being developed and, like the known 5- and 10.6-meter classes of launcher, is being migrated from aluminum to stainless steel. CALT described its April 2025 10.6-meter stainless tank prototype as the first step in “small steps, rapid iteration” development of large-diameter stainless structures.
CASC’s other main rocket maker, the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), also signalled in 2022 plans to develop reusable launchers with diameters of 3.35, 4 meters and 7 meters, with the 7.0-meter-diameter rocket planned to be able to launch more than 20,000 kg to 700 km sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). SAST, which operates separately from and even in competition with CALT, has developed the Long March 12A and 12B 3.8-meter-diameters reusable rockets, with the latter claimed to have gone from development to launch in 21 months.
A further sign of China’s intent are developments at Hainan commercial space launch site (HCSLS). Yang Tianliang, chairman of Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Co., Ltd., (HICAL), said in an interview published on Douyin April 8 that the site’s existing launch facilities serve 5-meter-class rockets and that the company hopes to build larger facilities, “for example, 7-meter or 10-meter level,” for vehicles generating several thousand tons of thrust. HCSLS currently has pads 1 and 2 operational, facilitating launches of the Long March 8 and Long March 12, while pads 3 and 4, both “universal” pads for liquid propellant rockets, southwest of the existing two, are under construction as part of phase 2 development. Phase 3 could see pads for the larger diameter rockets.
The geography is consistent with China’s launch hardware logistics. The 3.35-meter diameter of older Long March rockets was set by rail loading gauges, while current 4.2- and 4.5-meter commercial vehicles are sized for road convoys to Jiuquan in the Gobi Desert. Five-meter-class stages are built in the northern coastal city of Tianjin and shipped by sea to Wenchang on Hainan island. A 7-meter-plus stage could move only by water, implying coastal manufacturing and Wenchang-area launch infrastructure.
The configurations of any new 7.0-meter-diameter class reusable rockets is unknown, with the 2023 CALT recommendation possibly having evolved, and CALT and CASC yet to publicly disclose new plans. Such a move, if realized, would fit into China’s efforts to greatly boost its access to space and payload capabilities.
