Long March 9 (2016 Concept)

Chang Zheng 9 CZ-9 长征九号

Mission Profile

The Long March 9 (2016 Concept) (Chang Zheng 9, CZ-9, 长征九号) was a proposed three-stage Chinese super-heavy launch vehicle concept in the Long March 9 family, an early Saturn V-class design using four solid strap-on boosters around a 10 m diameter core. Standing approximately 93 m tall with a projected liftoff mass of 4,137 tonnes, it would have generated 57,600 kN of thrust and delivered 140,000 kg to low Earth orbit or 66,000 kg to geostationary transfer orbit. Conceived around 2016, this initial Long March 9 concept has since been substantially redesigned into a Starship-influenced fully reusable architecture.