[3][4] Its first flight is planned for 2033,[5] in anticipation of an increase in cadence by China's crewed lunar missions during the 2030s.

[7]) The CZ-9 was initially designed as a three-staged rocket, with a first-stage core diameter of 10 meters and using a cluster of four engines.

Finally, there is the CZ-9B, having only the bare 10-meter diameter core stage and an LEO payload capacity of 50 tons.

[8] The expected payload capacities of the Long March 9 place it in the class of the super heavy-lift launch vehicle.

All fuel tanks were changed to a common bulkhead design, and all external boosters had been removed.

In April 2023 a new presentation by CALT showed the 3rd stage as powered by 4 YF-79 expander cycle liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engines instead, each of 25-tonnes of thrust.

[15] Another presentation on the same month shows a planned fully reusable, 2-stage version of the Long March 9 to be developed during the 2040s, in a configuration similar to the SpaceX Starship.