An aerial drone photo taken Monday shows the first-stage propulsion test for the Tianlong-3 liquid carrier rocket at an offshore launch pad in the Haiyang Oriental Aerospace Port, Shandong Province. Independently developed by commercial aerospace firm Space Pioneer since March 2022, the Tianlong-3 is a 72‑meter, 600‑ton launch vehicle. Its first stage is powered by nine Tianhuo‑12 engines operating simultaneously. The rocket is designed to deliver 17–22 metric tons of load to low‑Earth orbit and 10–17 tons to sun‑synchronous orbit (SSO), and can deploy up to 36 satellites in a single mission. It is also intended to support large‑scale cargo transport to China’s space station, as well as launches to medium‑ and high‑altitude orbits. Xinhua