The Long March 6 or Chang Zheng 6 as in pinyin, abbreviated LM 6 for export or CZ 6 within China, is a Chinese liquid-fuelled launch vehicle of the Long March family, which was developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST). The rocket was developed in the 2000s, and made its maiden flight in 2015. As one of the new generation rocket family, the Long March 6 was designed to be a light capacity, "high-speed response" rocket, complementing the heavy lift Long March 5 and the mid-heavy lift Long March 7 rocket families. It is capable of placing at least 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of payload into a Sun-synchronous orbit.[9][8] The first stage of the Long March 6 was derived from the booster rockets being developed for the Long March 5 rocket. It is powered by a YF-100 engine, which generates 1,340 kN (300,000 lbf) of thrust from burning kerosene and LOX as rocket fuel and oxidiser. This was the first flight of the new engine design.

Specs

Height: 29 m (95 ft)

Diameter: 3.35 m (11.0 ft)

Mass: 03,000 kg (227,000 lb)

Stages: 3

An enlarged variant, the Long March 6A, which has four strap-on solid boosters, an elongated stage one, a new stage two with the same diameter as the first stage, and a payload capacity of at least 4000 kg to Sun-synchronous orbit, made its maiden flight on 29 March 2022. A further iteration named the Long March 6C with a slightly shorter length than the 6A and without the four strap-on solid boosters had its successful maiden launch on 7 May 2024.

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

LA-16

Launch Area 16 is one of three sites built at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. It is specifically designed for the Chang Zheng 6 rocket.

Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center

The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center is located in Kelan County, Xinzhou, Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China.

It became fully operational in 1968 and is used primarily to launch weather, Earth observation, and science missions to Sun-synchronous orbits.

The launch site has also hosted Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile tests.

Taiyuan has three launch pads, LA-7, LA-9, and LA-16 and currently hosts the launches of the Chang Zheng 1D, 2C, 4A, 4B, 4C, and 6 rockets.