The Long March 3 (Chinese: 长征三号火箭), also known as the Changzheng 3, CZ-3 and LM-3, was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket design. They were all launched from Launch Area 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. It was a three-stage rocket, and was mostly used to place DFH-2-class communications satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbits. It was complemented and later replaced by the more powerful Long March 3A, which has an improved third stage.
 Rendering of Long March 3 | |
| Function | Carrier rocket |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | CALT |
| Country of origin | China |
| Size | |
| Height | 43.25 metres (141.9 ft)[1] |
| Diameter | 3.35 metres (11.0 ft)[1] |
| Mass | 204,000 kilograms (450,000 lb)[1] |
| Stages | 3 |
| Capacity | |
| Payload to LEO | |
| Mass | 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb)[2] |
| Payload to GTO | |
| Mass | 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb)[2] |
| Associated rockets | |
| Family | Long March |
| Derivative work | Long March 3A |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Retired |
| Launch sites | LA-3, XSLC |
| Total launches | 13 |
| Success(es) | 10 |
| Failure(s) | 2 |
| Partial failure(s) | 1 |
| First flight | 29 January 1984 |
| Last flight | 25 June 2000 |
| First stage | |
| Height | 23.49 m |
| Diameter | 3.35 m |
| Empty mass | 9,378 kg (20,675 lb) |
| Gross mass | 153,070 kg (337,460 lb) |
| Propellant mass | 143,692 kg (316,787 lb) |
| Powered by | 4 YF-21B |
| Maximum thrust | 2,961.6 kN (665,800 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 2,556.2 m/s (260.66 s) |
| Burn time | 121 s |
| Propellant | N2O4 / UDMH |
| Second stage | |
| Height | 9.47 m |
| Diameter | 3.35 m |
| Empty mass | 3,599 kg (7,934 lb) |
| Gross mass | 39,440 kg (86,950 lb) |
| Propellant mass | 35,841 kg (79,016 lb) |
| Powered by | 1 YF-24D (1 x YF-22D (Main)) (4 x YF-23F (Vernier)) |
| Maximum thrust | 741.4 kN (166,700 lbf) (Main) 47.1 kN (10,600 lbf) (Vernier) |
| Specific impulse | 2,922.4 m/s (298.00 s) (Main) 2,762 m/s (281.6 s) (Vernier) |
| Burn time | 130 s |
| Propellant | N2O4 / UDMH |
| Third stage | |
| Height | 10.36 m |
| Diameter | 2.25 m |
| Empty mass | 1,965 kg (4,332 lb) |
| Gross mass | 10,700 kg (23,600 lb) |
| Propellant mass | 8,731 kg (19,249 lb) |
| Powered by | 1 YF-73 |
| Maximum thrust | 44.43 kN (9,990 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 4,119 m/s (420.0 s) |
| Burn time | 729 s |
| Propellant | LH2 / LOX |
List of launches
edit| Flight number | Date (UTC) | Launch site | Payload | Orbit | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 29, 1984 12:25 |
LA-3, XSLC | STTW 1 | GTO (intended) | Partial Failure |
| 2 | April 8, 1984 11:20 |
LA-3, XSLC | STTW 2 | GTO | Success |
| 3 | February 1, 1986 12:37 |
LA-3, XSLC | DFH-2-1 | GTO | Success |
| 4 | March 7, 1988 12:41 |
LA-3, XSLC | DFH-2A-1 (ChinaSat 1) | GTO | Success |
| 5 | December 22, 1988 12:40 |
LA-3, XSLC | DFH-2A-2 (ChinaSat 2) | GTO | Success |
| 6 | February 4, 1990 12:28 |
LA-3, XSLC | DFH-2A-3 (ChinaSat 3) | GTO | Success |
| 7 | April 7, 1990 13:30 |
LA-3, XSLC | AsiaSat 1 | GTO | Success |
| 8 | December 28, 1991 12:00 |
LA-3, XSLC | DFH-2A-4 (ChinaSat 4) | GTO (intended) | Failure |
| 9 | July 21, 1994 10:55 |
LA-3, XSLC | APStar 1 | GTO | Success |
| 10 | July 3, 1996 10:47 |
LA-3, XSLC | APStar 1A | GTO | Success |
| 11 | August 18, 1996 10:27 |
LA-3, XSLC | ChinaSat 7 | GTO (intended) | Failure |
| 12 | June 10, 1997 12:01 |
LA-3, XSLC | Fengyun 2A | GTO | Success |
| 13 | June 25, 2000 11:50 |
LA-3, XSLC | Fengyun 2B | GTO | Success |
Launch failures
editDong Fang Hong 2 launch failure
editOn January 29, 1984, a LM-3 rocket failed during launch. The third stage failed 4 s after restart for GTO insertion of the satellite, due to incorrect mixture ratio in the engine gas generator, which caused high temperatures and burned out the turbine casing. However, many planned tests on the experimental communications spacecraft were still carried out in the resulting elliptical orbit.
ChinaSat 4 launch failure
editOn December 28, 1991, a LM-3 rocket failed during launch. The third-stage engine suffered a loss of turbine speed and combustion pressure 58 s after re-igniting for the second burn for GTO insertion and shut down completely 135 s after re-ignition. Loss of pressure in the high-pressure helium supply used for engine control had reduced the propellant flow.
ChinaSat 7 launch failure
editOn August 18, 1996 a LM-3 rocket failed during launch. The third-stage engine shut down roughly 40 s earlier than planned because of a fire in the LH2 injector of the gas generator. Insufficient purging had permitted oxygen to freeze in the gas generator during flight.
Specifications of all LM-3 types
edit| Series | 3 | 3A | 3B | 3B/E | 3C | 3C/E |
| Model |  |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
| Stages | 3 | 3 | 3 (plus 4 Strap-on boosters) |
3 (plus 4 Strap-on boosters) |
3 (plus 2 Strap-on boosters) |
3 (plus 2 Strap-on boosters) |
| Length (m) | 43.2 | 52.5 | 54.8 | 56.3 | 54.8 | 56.3 |
| Max. diameter (m) | 3.35 | 3.35 | 3.35 | 3.35 | 3.35 | 3.35 |
| Liftoff mass (t) | 204 | 241 | 426 | 459 | 345 | 378 |
| Liftoff thrust (kN) | 2,962 | 2,962 | 5,923 | 5,923 | 4,442 | 4,442 |
| Payload (LEO, kg) | 5,000 | 8,500 | 11,500 | 11,500 | 8,000 | 8,000 |
Launch history for all LM-3 types
editThe following launch statistics are gathered from the individual Wikipedia pages of each CZ-3x variants as those pages are updated more frequently by various editors; the numbers are current as of 23 February, 2023.
| Derivatives | Status | First flight | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures |
| Long March 3 | Retired | 29 January 1984 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 1 |
| Long March 3A | Retired | 8 February 1994 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| Long March 3B | Retired | 14 February 1996 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 1 |
| Long March 3B/E | Active | 13 May 2007 | 78 | 76 | 1 | 1 |
| Long March 3C | Retired | 25 April 2008 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Long March 3C/E | Active | 23 October 2014 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
References
edit- ^ a b c Mark Wade. "CZ-3". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2008-06-01. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
- ^ a b Gunter Krebs. "CZ-3 (Chang Zheng-3)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
