China’s new Long March 12 rocket successfully completed its inaugural flight on Saturday, placing two experimental satellites into orbit and testing upgraded engines for future lunar missions.

The rocket, launched from the Wenchang spaceport, is designed to be a more affordable option for deploying small satellites and competing with SpaceX’s Starlink.

It uses four upgraded YF-100K engines, which will also be used on the upcoming Long March 10 rocket for China’s lunar missions, ArsTechnica has reported.

The Long March 12’s success marks a step toward China’s goal of human lunar landings by 2030 and the development of a reusable space launch system similar to SpaceX’s Falcon 9.

Written by B.C. Begley