Long March rocket

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The Long March family of rockets (Traditional Chinese: 長征系列運載火箭; Simplified Chinese: 长征系列运载火箭; pinyin: Chángzhēng xìliè yùnzài huǒjiàn) is an expendable launch system operated by the People's Republic of China. Development and design falls under the auspices of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. The rockets are, confusingly, abbreviated both LM- and CZ- in English.

It is named after the Long March of Chinese communist history. The Shenzhou spacecraft is launched on the Long March rocket. As of 2003, the main stages and the booster rockets of Long March rockets use storable propellants with UDMH as fuel and dinitrogen tetroxide as the oxidizing agent. The upper stages of Long March 3A (CZ-3A) and CZ-3B use cryogenic fuel, Liquid hydrogen (LH2) as fuel and Liquid oxygen (LOX) as oxidizer.

The max payload for LEO is 9200kg(CZ-2F), the max payload for GTO is 5100kg(CZ-3B). LM-5 will offer more payload in future.

The Long March rocket is related to early versions of the Dongfeng missile (note that Dongfeng is the generic Chinese name for all of its land ICBMs). However, like its counterparts in both the United States and in Russia, the differing needs of space rockets and strategic missiles have caused the development of space rockets and missiles to diverge. The main goal of a space rocket is to maximize payload, while for strategic missiles increased throw weight is much less important than the ability to launch quickly and to survive a first strike. This divergence has become clear in the next generation of Long March rockets which use cryogenic propellants in sharp contrast to the next generation of strategic missiles which are mobile and solid fuelled.

The PRC launched its first satellite, known as Dong Fang Hong 1 ("the East is Red"), to Earth orbit on its own Long March space rocket on April 24, 1970, becoming the fifth nation to achieve independent launch capability. Most of the commercial satellite launches of Long March vehicles have been from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, located in Xichang, Sichuan province. Long March launches also take place from the more military oriented Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province from which the manned Shenzhou spacecraft also comes.

Early commercial launches had a spotty record. On January 26, 1995, a Long March 3B rocket veered off course two seconds after take-off from Xichang space center and exploded, killing at least 6 on the ground. On February 14, 1996, a similar failure resulted in an unknown number of casualties [[1]]. The rocket veered severely off course right after clearing the launch tower and landed in a rural village. Following the disaster, foreign media were sequestered in a bunker for five hours while, some have alleged, the Chinese military attempted to 'clean up' the effects. The Chinese Xinhua News Agency eventually reported 57 deaths, but the extent of damage observed by foreign journalists whilst being whisked away from the disaster site suggested there may have been at least 200 and upwards of 500 killed[[2]]. See also Intelsat 708. In the aftermath of the explosion, US satellite makers shared information which allowed the Chinese to determine that the problem was in the welds. However, this sharing of information was later deemed illegal by the United States, and U.S. satellite maker Loral Space and Communications was fined $14 million by the U.S. government in 2002, while admitting no wrong-doing.^[1]

Since the improvements made after the 1996 accident, the reliability of the Long March rockets has been excellent, with zero failed launches. On October 15, 2003, the Long March 2F rocket successfully launched the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft/orbiter carrying the China's first astronaut into space, and on October 12, 2005, Shenzhou 6 with two astronauts; China became the third nation to send man into space on its own, after the Soviet Union/Russia and USA.

China markets launch services under the Great Wall Industrial Corporation. Its efforts to launch communications satellites were dealt a blow in the mid-1990s after the United States stopped issuing export licenses to companies to allow them to launch on Chinese launch vehicles out of fear that this would help China's military.

Contents 1 Launch history 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Launch history

No.	Booster	Date (UTC+08)	Payload	Orbit	Launch site	Status
1	CZ-1 F-01	24 April 1970	Dong Fang Hong 1	LEO	JSLC	Success
2	CZ-1 F-02	3 March 1971	SJ-1	LEO	JSLC	Success
3	CZ-2 F-01	5 November 1974	FSW 0	LEO	JSLC	Failure
4	CZ-2C F-01	26 November 1975	FSW 0-1	LEO	JSLC	Success
5	CZ-2C F-02	7 December 1976	FSW 0-2	LEO	JSLC	Success
6	CZ-2C F-03	26 January 1978	FSW 0-3	LEO	JSLC	Success
7	CZ-2C F-04	9 September 1982	FSW 0-4	LEO	JSLC	Success
8	CZ-2C F-05	19 August 1983	FSW 0-5	LEO	JSLC	Success
9	CZ-3 F-01	29 January 1984	Dong Fang Hong 2	GTO	XSLC	Failure
10	CZ-3 F-02	8 April 1984	Dong Fang Hong 2	GTO	XSLC	Success
11	CZ-2C F-06	12 September 1984	FSW 0-6	LEO	JSLC	Success
12	CZ-2C F-07	21 October 1985	FSW 0-7	LEO	JSLC	Success
13	CZ-3 F-03	1 February 1986	Dong Fang Hong 2A	GTO	XSLC	Success
14	CZ-2C F-08	6 October 1986	FSW 0-8	LEO	JSLC	Success
15	CZ-2C F-09	5 August 1987	FSW 0-9	LEO	JSLC	Success
16	CZ-2C F-10	9 September 1987	FSW 1-1	LEO	JSLC	Success
17	CZ-3 F-04	7 March 1988	Dong Fang Hong 2A	GTO	XSLC	Success
18	CZ-2C F-11	5 August 1988	FSW 1-2	LEO	JSLC	Success
19	CZ-4 F-01	7 September 1988	Feng Yun 1	SSO	TSLC	Success
20	CZ-3 F-05	22 December 1988	Dong Fang Hong 2A	GTO	XSLC	Success
21	CZ-3 F-06	4 February 1990	Dong Fang Hong 2A	GTO	XSLC	Success
22	CZ-3 F-07	7 April 1990	AsiaSat 1	GTO	XSLC	Success
23	CZ-2E F-01	16 July 1990	Pakistan science satellite	LEO	XSLC	Success
24	CZ-4 F-02	3 September 1990	Feng Yun 1 simulated satellite	SSO	TSLC	Success
25	CZ-2C F-12	5 October 1990	FSW	LEO	JSLC	Success
26	CZ-3 F-08	28 December 1991	Dong Fang Hong 2A	GTO	XSLC	Failure
27	CZ-2D F-01	9 August 1992	FSW	LEO	JSLC	Success
28	CZ-2E F-02	14 August 1992	Optus B1	GTO	XSLC	Success
29	CZ-2C F-13	6 October 1992	Swedish Freja satellite FSW	LEO	JSLC	Success
30	CZ-2E F-03	21 December 1992	Optus B2	GTO	XSLC	Failure
31	CZ-2C F-14	8 October 1993	FSW	LEO	JSLC	Success
32	CZ-3A F-01	8 February 1994	SJ-4 simulated satellite	GTO	XSLC	Success
33	CZ-2D F-02	3 July 1994	FSW	LEO	JSLC	Success
34	CZ-3 F-09	21 July 1994	Apstar-1	GTO	XSLC	Success
35	CZ-2E F-04	28 August 1994	Optus B3	GTO	XSLC	Success
36	CZ-3A F-02	30 November 1994	Zhong Xing-5	GTO	XSLC	Success
37	CZ-2E F-05	26 January 1995	Apstar-2	GTO	XSLC	Failure - destroyed due to windshear
38	CZ-2E F-06	28 November 1995	AsiaSat 2	GTO	XSLC	Success
39	CZ-2E F-07	28 December 1995	Echostar 1	GTO	XSLC	Success
40	CZ-3B F-01	15 February 1996	Intelsat 708	GTO	XSLC	Failure video
41	CZ-3 F-10	3 July 1996	Apstar-1A	GTO	XSLC	Success
42	CZ-3 F-11	18 August 1996	Zhongxing 7	GTO	XSLC	Failure
43	CZ-2D F-03	20 October 1996	FSW 2-3	LEO	JSLC	Success
44	CZ-3A F-03	12 May 1997	Zhongxing-6	GTO	XSLC	Success
45	CZ-3 F-12	10 June 1997	FY-2A	GTO	XSLC	Success
46	CZ-3B F-02	20 August 1997	Agila-2	GTO	XSLC	Success
47	CZ-2C F-15	1 September 1997	Iridium	LEO	TSLC	Success
48	CZ-3B F-03	17 October 1997	Apstar-2R	GTO	XSLC	Success
49	CZ-2C F-16	8 December 1997	Iridium 42/44	LEO	TSLC	Success
50	CZ-2C F-17	26 March 1998	Iridium 51/61	LEO	TSLC	Success
51	CZ-2C F-18	2 May 1998	Iridium 69/71	LEO	TSLC	Success
52	CZ-3B F-04	30 May 1998	Zhongwei 1	GTO	XSLC	Success
53	CZ-3B F-05	18 July 1998	Sinosat-1	GTO	XSLC	Success
54	CZ-2C F-19	20 August 1998	Iridium 3/76	LEO	TSLC	Success
55	CZ-2C F-20	19 December 1998	Iridium 11/20	LEO	TSLC	Success
56	CZ-4 F-03	10 May 1999	FY-1C/SJ-5	SSO	TSLC	Success
57	CZ-2C F-21	12 June 1999	Iridium 14A/21A	LEO	TSLC	Success
58	CZ-4B F-04	14 October 1999	ZY-1/SACI-1	SSO	TSLC	Success
59	CZ-2F F-01	20 November 1999	Shenzhou 1	LEO	JSLC	Success
60	CZ-3A F-04	26 January 2000	"Zhong Xin" ZX-22	GTO	XSLC	Success
61	CZ-3 F-13	25 June 2000	"FengYun" FY-2	GTO	XSLC	Success
62	CZ-4B F-05	1 September 2000	ZY-2	SSO	TSLC	Success
63	CZ-3A F-05	31 October 2000	Beidou 1A	GTO	XSLC	Success
64	CZ-3A F-06	21 December 2000	Beidou 1B	GTO	XSLC	Success
65	CZ-2F F-02	10 January 2001	Shenzhou 2	LEO	JSLC	Success
66	CZ-2F F-03	25 March 2002	Shenzhou 3	LEO	JSLC	Success
67	CZ-4B	15 May 2002	Hai Yang 1/Feng Yun 1D	SSO	TSLC	Success
68	CZ-4B	27 October 2002	ZY-2B	SSO	TSLC	Success
69	CZ-2F	30 December 2002	Shenzhou 4	LEO	JSLC	Success
70	CZ-3A	25 May 2003	Beidou-1C	GTO	XSLC	Success
71	CZ-2F	15 October 2003	Shenzhou 5	LEO	JSLC	Success
72	CZ-4B	21 October 2003	Chuang Xin 1 - CBERS	SSO	TSLC	Success
73	CZ-3D	3 November 2003	FSW-18	LEO	JSLC	Success
74	CZ-3A	15 November 2003	"ZhongXing" ZX-20	GTO	XSLC	Success
75	CZ-2C/SM	30 December 2003	Double Star (TC-1)	HEO	XSLC	Success
76	CZ-2C	18 April 2004	Shiyan SY-1/Naxing NX-1	SSO	XSLC	Success
77	CZ-2C/SM	25 July 2004	Double Star ("Tan Ce" TC-2)	HEO (polar orbit)	TSLC	Success
78	CZ-2C	29 August 2004	FSW-19	LEO	JSLC	Success
79	CZ-4B	9 September 2004	"Shijian" SJ-6A/SJ6B	SSO	TSLC	Success
80	CZ-2D	27 September 2004	FSW-20	LEO	JSLC	Success
81	CZ-3A	19 October 2004	"FengYun" FY-2C	GTO	XSLC	Success
82	CZ-4B	6 November 2004	ZY-2	SSO	TSLC	Success
83	CZ-2C	18 November 2004	"Shiyan" SY-2	SSO	XSLC	Success
84	CZ-3B	12 April 2005	Apstar-6	GTO	XSLC	Success
85	CZ-2D	6 July 2005	SJ-7	SSO	JSLC	Success
86	CZ-2C	2 August 2005	FSW-21	LEO	JSLC	Success
87	CZ-2D	29 August 2005	FSW-22	LEO	JSLC	Success
88	CZ-2F	12 October 2005	Shenzhou 6	LEO	JSLC	Success
89	CZ-4B	27 April 2006	Yaogan 1	SSO	TSLC	Success
90	CZ-2C	9 September 2006	SJ-8	LEO	JSLC	Success
91	CZ-3A	13 September 2006	ZX-22A	GTO	XSLC	Success
92	CZ-4B	24 October 2006	Two Shijian 6 space experiment satellites A/B	LEO	TSLC	Success
93	CZ-3B	29 October 2006 00:20 CST	Sinosat 2	GTO	XSLC	Success (satellite failure)
94	CZ-3A	8 December 2006 08:53 CST	Fengyun 2D	GTO	XSLC	Success
95	CZ-3A	3 February 2007 00:28 CST	Beidou	GTO	XSLC	Success

• Note: all dates are based on UTC+08

Record of launches by year

Year	Launch	Cumulative	Success	Cumulative
1970	1	1	1	1
1971	1	2	1	2
1972	0	2	0	2
1973	0	2	0	2
1974	1	3	0	2
1975	1	4	1	3
1976	1	5	1	4
1977	0	5	0	4
1978	1	6	1	5
1979	0	6	0	5
1980	0	6	0	5
1981	0	6	0	5
1982	1	7	1	6
1983	1	8	1	7
1984	3	11	2	9
1985	1	12	1	10
1986	2	14	2	12
1987	2	16	2	14
1988	4	20	4	18
1989	0	20	0	18
1990	5	25	5	23
1991	1	26	0	23
1992	4	30	3	26
1993	1	31	1	27
1994	5	36	5	32
1995	3	39	2	34
1996	4	43	2	36
1997	6	49	6	42
1998	6	55	6	48
1999	4	59	4	52
2000	5	64	5	57
2001	1	65	1	58
2002	4	69	4	62
2003	6	75	6	68
2004	8	83	8	76
2005	5	88	5	81
2006	6	94	6	87
2007	1	95	1	88

[edit] See also

• Shenzhou spacecraft
• Space program of China
• China National Space Administration

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[edit] References

1. ^ Mintz, John, "2 U.S. space giants accused of aiding China Hughes, Boeing allegedly gave away missile technology illegally", Washington Post, Jan. 1, 2003

[edit] External links

• Extensive information on the Chinese space program
• China Great Wall Industry Corporation
• NASA links - just substitute year for past years
• Long March 3 accident

	Long March rocket family
Long March 1 rocket family: Long March 1 - Long March 1D Long March 2 rocket family: Long March 2 - Long March 2C - Long March 2D - Long March 2E - Long March 2F Long March 3 rocket family: Long March 3 - Long March 3A - Long March 3B - Long March 3C Long March 4 rocket family: Fengbao 1 - Long March 4 - Long March 4A - Long March 4B Long March 5 rocket family: CZ-NGLV-Light - CZ-NGLV-Medium - CZ-NGLV-A - CZ-NGLV-B - CZ-NGLV-C - CZ-NGLV-D - CZ-NGLV-E - CZ-NGLV-F