Long March 3

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 3-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.

Not to be confused with Long March 3 rocket family.
Long March 3
Long March 3
FunctionCarrier rocket
ManufacturerCALT
Country of originChina
Size
Height43.25 metres (141.9 ft)[1]
Diameter3.35 metres (11.0 ft)[1]
Mass204,000 kilograms (450,000 lb)[1]
Stages3
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb)[2]
Payload to GTO
Mass1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb)[2]
Associated rockets
FamilyLong March
DerivativesLong March 3A
Launch history
StatusRetired
Launch sitesLA-3, XSLC
Total launches13
Success(es)10
Failure(s)2
Partial failure(s)1
First flight29 January 1984
Last flight25 June 2000
First stage
Length23.49 m
Diameter3.35 m
Empty mass9,378 kg (20,675 lb)
Gross mass153,070 kg (337,460 lb)
Propellant mass143,692 kg (316,787 lb)
Engines4 YF-21B
Thrust2,961.6 kN (665,800 lbf)
Specific impulse2,556.2 m/s (260.66 s)
Burn time121 s
FuelN2O4 / UDMH
Second stage
Length9.47 m
Diameter3.35 m
Empty mass3,599 kg (7,934 lb)
Gross mass39,440 kg (86,950 lb)
Propellant mass35,841 kg (79,016 lb)
Engines1 YF-24D
(1 x YF-22D (Main))
(4 x YF-23F (Vernier))
Thrust741.4 kN (166,700 lbf) (Main)
47.1 kN (10,600 lbf) (Vernier)
Specific impulse2,922.4 m/s (298.00 s) (Main)
2,762 m/s (281.6 s) (Vernier)
Burn time130 s
FuelN2O4 / UDMH
Third stage
Length10.36 m
Diameter2.25 m
Empty mass1,965 kg (4,332 lb)
Gross mass10,700 kg (23,600 lb)
Propellant mass8,731 kg (19,249 lb)
Engines1 YF-73
Thrust44.43 kN (9,990 lbf)
Specific impulse4,119 m/s (420.0 s)
Burn time729 s
FuelLH2 / LOX

List of launches
Main article: List of Long March launches
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

Dong Fang Hong 2 launch failure

On 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

On 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

On 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
Specifications
Series 3 3A 3B 3B/E 3C 3C/E
Model
Long March 3
Long March 3A
Long March 3B
Long March 3B/E
Long March 3C
Long March 3C/E
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

The 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 20 January, 2020.

Long March 3 (rocket family)
Derivatives Status First flight Launches Successes Failures Partial Failures
Long March 3 Retired 29 January 1984 13 10 2 1
Long March 3A Active 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 61 59 1 1
Long March 3C Active 25 April 2008 12 12 0 0
Long March 3C/E Active 23 October 2014 5 5 0 0

References
  1. Mark Wade. "CZ-3". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2008-06-01. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  2. Gunter Krebs. "CZ-3 (Chang Zheng-3)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.