Long March, expendable launch systems, China

Long March rocket CZ-3B explodes over Sichuan, China, February 15, 1996

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A Long March-3C carrier rocket launched BeiDou-2 G7, the 23rd satellite in the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province, China, on 12 June 2016, at 15:30 UTC (23:30 CST – China Standard Time).

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The Long March 7 rocket launched into its first flight from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Wenchang (WSLC), Hainan Island, China, on 25 June 2016, at 12:00 UTC (20:00 local time). Long March 7 or Chang Zheng 7 (CZ-7) is the medium-lift variant of a new generation rocket family.

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Astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong were launched onboard the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft by a Long March 2F (Chang Zheng 2F) carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province, on 16 October 2016, at 23:30:00 UTC (07:30 local time). Shenzhou-11 will dock with Tiangong-2 (“Heavenly Palace 2”), China's second space station, where it will remain for 30 days.

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The maiden flight of the Long March 5 (Chang Zhen-5 ) heavy-lift space launch system took place on 3 November 2016, at 12:42 UTC, from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Center on Hainan island. The first Long March 5 launched the experimental Shijian-17 satellite to a geostationary orbit.

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The Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket blasted off from the Wenchang launch center off China’s southern coast at 8:43 pm Beijing time, marking another milestone on China’s road to building its own space station.

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A Long March-2D carrier rocket (Chang Zheng-2D) launched the Yunhai-1 (01) meteorological satellite from the LC43/603 launch complex of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, on 11 November 2016, at 23:14 UTC.

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A Long March 3B carrier rocket (Chang Zheng-3B) launched the Fengyun-4 weather satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, on 10 December 2016, at 16:10 UTC. The Fengyun-4 satellite is the first of China's second-generation weather satellites in geostationary orbit and its first quantitative remote-sensing satellite in high orbit.

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TanSat, China’s first CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) monitoring satellite, was launched by a Long March 2D (Chang Zheng 2D) rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert, on 21 December 2016, at 19:22 UTC (22 December, 03:22 Beijing time). TanSat was sent into a sun synchronous orbit about 700 kilometers above the Earth and will monitor the concentration, distribution and flow of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere every 16 days, during its three-year mission.

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The Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft was launched by a Long March-7 Yao-2 carrier rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Province, China, on 20 April 2017, at 11:41 UTC. Tianzhou-1 is China’s first cargo spacecraft and will dock with the Tiangong-2 space lab three times to test in-orbit liquid propellant refueling. The Long March-7 Y2 (LM-7 Y2) carrier rocket (Chang Zheng 7) version was adapted especially to launch the Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft.

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On its second mission, a Long March-5 Y2 (Chang Zhen-5 /长征五号) carrier rocket launched the Shijian-18 (实践十八号卫星) communication satellite from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province, on 2 July 2017, at 11:23 UTC. The Long March-5 has a payload capacity of 25 tons in low Earth orbit and 14 tons in geostationary orbit.

Credit:
China Central Television (CCTV)
Long March-5 Y2 & Shijian-18 ready for launch

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A Long March-2C rocket launched three Yaogan-30 remote sensing satellites from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province, on 29 September 2017, at 04:21 UTC. The Yaogan-30 01 satellites carry electromagnetic probes along with other experiments.
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)

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A Long March-2D launch vehicle (Chang Zheng-2D) launched the VRSS-2 remote sensing satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China, on 9 October 2017, at 04:06 UTC. The VRSS-2 will be primarily used by Venezuela for land resources survey, environmental protection, disaster monitoring and management, crop yield estimation and city planning.
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)
长征二号丁, Long March-2D, LM-2D, Chang Zheng-2D, CZ-2D

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Two BeiDou-3 satellites were launched by a Long March-3B launch vehicle from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province, on 5 November 2017, at 11:45 UTC (19:45 local time). To expand the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, China plans to launch 18 BeiDou-3 satellites by the end of 2018. The system is planned to have global coverage by 2020, with more than 30 satellites.

Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)

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A Long March-4C launch vehicle launched Fengyun-3D (FY-3D) meteorological satellite from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, Shanxi Province, on 14 November 2017, at 18:35 UTC. Fengyun-3 (风云三号气象卫星) is one of China's second generation of Polar-Orbiting Meteorological Satellites, which can provide global three dimensional all-weather and multi-spectral remote sensing images. The Fengyun-3D satellite and the Long March-4C (Chang Zheng-4C, CZ-4C, LM-4C) were developed by Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology under China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The satellite will be operated by China Meteorological Administration (CMA).

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A Long March-6 carrier rocker launched three remote sensing satellites, Jilin-1 04, Jilin-1 05 and Jilin-1 06, from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, Shanxi Province, on 21 November 2017, at 04:50 UTC (12:50 local time). The launch was the second mission of the Long March-6 launch vehicle.

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A Long March-2C rocket launched a second group of three Yaogan-30 remote sensing satellites from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province, on 24 November 2017, at 18:10 UTC (02:10 local time). The Yaogan-30 02 satellites carry electromagnetic probes along with other experiments.

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A Long March-2D launch vehicle (Chang Zheng-2D) launched a new remote sensing satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China, on 3 December 2017, at 04:11 UTC (12:11 Beijing Time). The satellite is mainly used for remote sensing exploration of land resources.

Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)
长征二号丁, Long March-2D, LM-2D, Chang Zheng-2D, CZ-2D

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Alcomsat-1, Algeria’s first communications satellite, was launched by a Long March-3B launch vehicle from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province, on 11 December 2017, at 16:41 UTC (00:41 local time).

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