Long March, expendable launch systems, China

[Administrator]

Long March-2D launches Yaogan-42 02

Apr 21, 2024

A Long March-2D rocket launched the Yaogan-42 02 remote sensing satellite (遥感四十二号02) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, southwest China, on 20 April 2024, at 23:45 UTC (21 April, at 07:45 local time). According to official sources, the satellite has entered the preset orbit.

 

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The Long March-8A launch vehicle

Apr 26, 2024

On 25 April 2024, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) revealed a new configuration of the Long March-8 launch vehicle: Long March-8A (长征八号甲). Long March-8A has two boosters and a payload capacity increased from 5 tons to 7 tons.

 

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Long March-6C first launch

May 7, 2024

The first Long March-6C rocket launched four satellites, HaiWangSAT-01 (海王星01星, Neptune-01), SmartSat-1C (智星一号C星/ 三江源一号卫星, Sanjiangyuan-1 Satellite), “wide-band optical satellite” (宽幅光学卫星) and “High Resolution Video Satellite” (高分视频卫星, GaoFen Shipin) from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, Shanxi Province, China, on 7 May 2024, at 03:21 UTC (11:21 local time). The Long March-6C launch vehicle (长征六号丙) is a two-stage liquid-fueled (liquid oxygen/kerosene) rocket developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

 

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Long March-3B launches Smart SkyNet-1 01 (A/B)

May 9, 2024

A Long March-3B launch vehicle launched the Smart SkyNet-1 01 (A/B) mission [智慧天网一号01星（A/B)] from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, southwest China, on 9 May 2024, at 01:43 UTC (09:43 local time). According to official sources, Smart SkyNet-1 01 is “China’s first medium-orbit broadband communication satellite”, part of the “Smart Skynet” (智慧天网) network of 8 satellites deployed into 20000 km altitude orbits.

 

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Long March-4C launches Shiyan-23

May 12, 2024

A Long March-4C launch vehicle launched the Shiyan-23 satellite (试验二十三号卫星, “Experiment 23”) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, China, on 11 May 2024, at 23:43 UTC (12 May, at 07:43 local time). According to official sources, the satellite has successfully entered the planned orbit and “will mainly be used for space environment monitoring”.

 

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Long March-2D launches four Beijing-3C satellites

May 20, 2024

A Long March-2D launch vehicle launched four Beijing-3C satellites (BJ-3C) from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, Shanxi Province, China, on 20 May 2024, at 03:06 UTC (11:06 local time). The Beijing-3C constellation (北京三号C星星座), designed and manufactured by DFH Satellite Co., Ltd, part of Twenty First Century Aerospace Technology Pte. Ltd, includes four optical remote sensing satellites that can “achieve 0.5 m resolution colour and 2 m multispectral at an orbital altitude of 500km”. According to official sources, the satellites entered the predetermined orbits and will be used for “land and resources management, survey of agricultural resources, ecological environment monitoring and urban applications”.

 

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Long March-3B launches PakSat-MM1

May 30, 2024

A Long March-3B launch vehicle launched the PakSat-MM1 communications satellite for Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, China, on 30 May 2024, at 12:12 UTC (20:12 local time). According to official sources, PakSat-MM1 “is based on the DFH-4E satellite platform with a liftoff mass of 5400 kg, and equipped with 9 antennas and 48 transponders in C, Ku, Ka, and L bands”, providing “various services such as broadcasting, regional enhanced communications, high-throughput broadband and the Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) services”.

 

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Long March-10 - first stage propulsion tested

Jun 15, 2024

According to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the propulsion system for the first stage of the Long March-10 launch vehicle (长征十) has been successfully tested for the first time on 14 June 2024. During the test, three YF-100K “started normally, operated stably and shut down on schedule”, “ground thrust reaching 382 tonnes”.
YF-100K is a “130-ton reusable liquid oxygen/kerosene rocket engine”.

 

[Administrator]

Long March-10 versions and reusable first stage

Jun 20, 2024

According to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the Long March-10 launch vehicle (长征十) might have four versions and a reusable first stage.

 

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SVOM launch

Jun 22, 2024

A Long March-2C launch vehicle launched the Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, China, on 22 June 2024, at 07:00 UTC (15:00 local time). SVOM is a Franco-Chinese mission dedicated to the study of the most distant explosions of stars, the gamma-ray bursts.

 

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Long March-7A launches ZhongXing-3A (ChinaSat-3A)

Jun 29, 2024

A Long March-7A launch vehicle (长征七号A) launched the ZhongXing-3A communications satellite (中星3A卫星, ChinaSat-3A) from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site Hainan Province, China, on 29 June 2024, at 11:57 UTC (19:57 local time). According to official sources, ZhongXing-3A entered the planned orbit successfully and will “provide voice, data, radio and television transmission services”.

 

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Long March-7A launches ZhongXing-3A (ChinaSat-3A)

Jun 29, 2024

A Long March-7A launch vehicle (长征七号A) launched the ZhongXing-3A communications satellite (中星3A卫星, ChinaSat-3A) from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site Hainan Province, China, on 29 June 2024, at 11:57 UTC (19:57 local time). According to official sources, ZhongXing-3A entered the planned orbit successfully and will “provide voice, data, radio and television transmission services”.

 

[Administrator]

Long March-7A launches ZhongXing-3A (ChinaSat-3A)

Jun 29, 2024

A Long March-7A launch vehicle (长征七号A) launched the ZhongXing-3A communications satellite (中星3A卫星, ChinaSat-3A) from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site Hainan Province, China, on 29 June 2024, at 11:57 UTC (19:57 local time). According to official sources, ZhongXing-3A entered the planned orbit successfully and will “provide voice, data, radio and television transmission services”.

 

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Long March-6A launches TianHui-5 02

Jul 5, 2024

A Long March-6A launch vehicle (长征六号甲) launched the second TianHui-5 mission from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, Shanxi Province, northern China, on 4 July 2024, at 22:49 UTC (5 July, at 06:49 local time). According to official sources, the TianHui-5 02 satellites (天绘五号02组卫星) entered the planned orbits and “will be used for geographic mapping, land resource surveys, scientific experiments and other purposes”.

 

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Long March-4B launches Gaofen-11 05

Jul 19, 2024

A Long March-4B launch vehicle (Y58, 长征四号乙遥五十八) launched the Gaofen-11 05 Earth-observation satellite from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, Shanxi Province, China, on 19 July 2024, at 03:03 UTC (11:03 local time). According to official sources, Gaofen-11 05 (高分十一号05) entered the planned orbit successfully and will form a network with Gaofen-11 01, 02, 03 and 04, that “will be used in a variety of fields including land surveys, urban planning, road network design, crop yield estimation and disaster relief”.

 

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Long March-3B launches WHG-02

Aug 1, 2024

A Long March-3B launch vehicle launched WHG-02 (卫星互联网高轨卫星02星, high-orbit internet services satellite) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, southwest China, on 1 August 2024, at 13:14 UTC (21:14 local time). According to official sources, the satellite entered its preset orbit successfully.

 

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Long March-6A launches SpaceSail Polar Orbit 01​

Aug 6, 2024

A Long March-6A launch vehicle (LM-6A, 长征六号甲) launched the first group of 18 SpaceSail Polar Orbit satellites (千帆极轨01组卫星) from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, Shanxi Province, China, on 6 August 2024, at 06:42 UTC (14:42 local time). According to official sources, the 18 satellites constitute the first batch of the first generation of the SpaceSail Constellation, developed by Shanghai SpaceSail Technologies Co., Ltd. to “provide global users with low-latency, high-speed and ultra-reliable satellite broadband internet services”.

 

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Long March-4B launches Yaogan-43 01

Aug 16, 2024

A Long March-4B launch vehicle (Y72, 长征四号乙遥七十二) launched the first group of Yaogan-43 remote sensing satellites (遥感四十三号01, Yaogan-43 01) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, China, on 16 August 2024, at 07:35 UTC (15:35 local time). According to official sources, the satellites entered the preset orbit and will be “mainly used for carrying out tests on new technologies of low-orbit constellations”.

 

[Administrator]

Long March-7A launches ZhongXing-4A (ChinaSat-4A)

Aug 22, 2024

A Long March-7A launch vehicle (长征七号A) launched the ZhongXing-3A communications satellite (中星4A卫星, ChinaSat-4A) from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site Hainan Province, China, on 22 August 2024, at 12:25 UTC (20:25 local time). According to official sources, ZhongXing-4A entered the planned orbit successfully and will “provide voice, data, radio and television transmission services”.

 

[Administrator]

Long March-4B launches Yaogan-43 02

Sep 3, 2024

A Long March-4B launch vehicle launched the second group of Yaogan-43 remote sensing satellites (遥感四十三号02, Yaogan-43 02) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, China, on 3 September 2024, at 01:22 UTC (09:22 local time). According to official sources, the satellites entered the preset orbit and will be “mainly used for carrying out tests on new technologies of low-orbit constellations”.