Long March 2C

The Long March 2C (LM-2C), also known as the Chang Zheng 2C (CZ-2C), is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle, part of the Long March 2 rocket family. Developed and manufactured by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT),^[2] the Long March 2C made its first launch on 9 September 1982. It is a two-stage launch vehicle with storable propellants, consisting of Nitrogen Tetroxide and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine. The launch vehicle was derived from the DF-5 ICBM.^[2]

Long March 2C

Rendering of Long March 2C
Function	Launch vehicle
Manufacturer	CALT
Country of origin	People's Republic of China
Size
Height	42 m (138 ft) [1]
Diameter	3.35 m (11.0 ft) [1]
Mass	233,000 kg (514,000 lb)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to Low Earth orbit
Mass	3,850 kg (8,490 lb)
Payload to Sun-synchronous orbit
Mass	2C: 1,400 kg (3,100 lb) 2C/SMA: 1,900 kg (4,200 lb)
Payload to GTO
Mass	2C/SM: 1,250 kg (2,760 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	Long March
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	LA-2/138 and LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC LA-7 and LA-9, TSLC LA-3, XSLC
Total launches	81
Success(es)	79
Failure(s)	1
Partial failure(s)	1
First flight	9 September 1982
Last flight	24 November 2024
First stage
Height	25.72 m
Diameter	3.35 m
Propellant mass	162,706 kg (358,705 lb)
Powered by	4 YF-21C
Maximum thrust	2,961.6 kN (665,800 lbf)
Specific impulse	2,556.5 m/s (8,387 ft/s)
Propellant	N2O4 / UDMH
Second stage
Height	7.757 m
Diameter	3.35 m
Propellant mass	54,667 kg (120,520 lb)
Powered by	1 YF-24E (1 x YF-22E (Main)) (4 x YF-23C (Vernier))
Maximum thrust	741.4 kN (166,700 lbf) (Main) 47.1 kN (10,600 lbf) (Vernier)
Specific impulse	2,922.37 m/s (297.999 s) (Main) 2,834.11 m/s (288.999 s) (Vernier)
Propellant	N2O4 / UDMH
Third stage – (optional)
Height	1.5 m
Diameter	2.7 m
Propellant mass	125 kg (276 lb)
Powered by	1 solid motor
Maximum thrust	10.78 kN (2,420 lbf)
Specific impulse	2,804 m/s (285.9 s)
Propellant	AP / HTPB
Third stage (optional) – YZ-1S
Powered by	1 × YF-50D
Maximum thrust	6.5 kN (1,500 lbf)
Specific impulse	315.5 s (3.094 km/s)
Propellant	N2O4 / UDMH

Several variants of this launch vehicle have been built, all using an optional third solid motor stage:^[3]

• 2C/SD: Commercial satellite launcher with a multi-satellite smart dispenser allowing delivery of two satellites simultaneously
• 2C/SM: Version for delivery of small satellites to high orbits
• 2C/SMA: Improved version of the 2C/SM

According to the website Gunter's Space Page,^[4] in addition to the launches listed in the following table, there may have been six additional CZ-2C launches during 2014 and 2015. These possible launches apparently were conducted at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on the following dates: 9 January 2014, 7 August 2014, 2 December 2014, 7 June 2015, 20 August 2015, and 23 November 2015; five of these six launches were apparently successful, while the launch on 7 August 2014 appears to have failed. However, due to the lack of additional sources for these six launches, they are not currently included in the following launch list.

Aerodynamic grid fins were added on the Long March 2C in 2019 to help guide falling stages away from populated areas. China is studying using reusable rocket technology in the future.^[5] A fairing recovery system through parachutes has been tested during the Yaogan 30-09 and Yaogan 30-10 launches in order to improve control of debris landing inland on potentially populated areas.^[6]

List of launches

Main article: List of Long March launches

Flight number	Serial number	Date (UTC)	Launch site	Upper stage (if used)	Payload	Orbit	Result
1	Y1	9 September 1982 07:19	LA-2/138, JSLC		FSW-0 No.4	LEO	Success
2	Y2	19 August 1983 06:00	LA-2/138, JSLC		FSW-0 No.5	LEO	Success
3	Y3	12 September 1984 05:44	LA-2/138, JSLC		FSW-0 No.6	LEO	Success
4	Y4	21 October 1985 05:04	LA-2/138, JSLC		FSW-0 No.7	LEO	Success
5	Y5	6 October 1986 05:40	LA-2/138, JSLC		FSW-0 No.8	LEO	Success
6	Y6	5 August 1987 06:39	LA-2/138, JSLC		FSW-0 No.9	LEO	Success
7	Y7	9 September 1987 07:15	LA-2/138, JSLC		FSW-1 No.1	LEO	Success
8	Y8	5 August 1988 07:29	LA-2/138, JSLC		FSW-1 No.2	LEO	Success
9	Y9	5 October 1990 06:14	LA-2/138, JSLC		FSW-1 No.3	LEO	Success
10	Y10	6 October 1992 06:20	LA-2/138, JSLC		FSW-1 No.4 Freja	LEO	Success
11	Y11	8 October 1993 08:00	LA-2/138, JSLC		FSW-1 No.5	LEO	Success
12	2CFP-Y1	1 September 1997 14:00	LA-7, TSLC	2C/SD	Iridium mass simulator A Iridium mass simulator B	LEO	Success
13	2CFP-Y2	8 December 1997 07:16	LA-7, TSLC	2C/SD	Iridium 42 Iridium 44	LEO	Success
14	2CFP-Y3	25 March 1998 17:01	LA-7, TSLC	2C/SD	Iridium 51 Iridium 61	LEO	Success
15	2CFP-Y4	2 May 1998 09:16	LA-7, TSLC	2C/SD	Iridium 69 Iridium 71	LEO	Success
16	2CFP-Y5	19 August 1998 23:01	LA-7, TSLC	2C/SD	Iridium 76 Iridium 78	LEO	Success
17	2CFP-Y6	19 December 1998 11:39	LA-7, TSLC	2C/SD	Iridium 88 Iridium 89	LEO	Success
18	2CFP-Y7	11 June 1999 17:15	LA-7, TSLC	2C/SD	Iridium 92 Iridium 93	LEO	Success
19	2CSM-Y1	29 December 2003 19:06	LA-3, XSLC	2C/SM	Double Star 1	HEO	Success
20	Y14	18 April 2004 15:59	LA-3, XSLC		Shiyan 1 Nano Satellite 1	SSO	Success
21	2CSM-Y2	25 July 2004 07:05	LA-7, TSLC	2C/SM	Double Star 2	HEO	Success
22	Y12	29 August 2004 07:50	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		FSW-4 No.1	LEO	Success
23	Y15	18 November 2004 10:45	LA-3, XSLC		Shiyan 2	SSO	Success
24	Y13	2 August 2005 07:30	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		FSW-4 No.2	LEO	Success
25	Y16	9 September 2006 07:00	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		Shijian 8	LEO	Success
26	Y18	11 April 2007 03:27	LA-7, TSLC		HaiYang-1B	SSO	Success
27	2CSMA-Y1	6 September 2008 03:25	LA-7, TSLC	2C/SMA	Huanjing-1A Huanjing-1B	SSO	Success
28	Y19	22 April 2009 02:55	LA-7, TSLC		Yaogan 6	SSO	Success
29	Y21	12 November 2009 02:45	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		Shijian 11-01	SSO	Success
30	Y25	6 July 2011 04:28	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		Shijian 11-03	SSO	Success
31	Y24	29 July 2011 07:42	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		Shijian 11-02	SSO	Success
32	Y26	18 August 2011 09:28	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		Shijian 11-04	SSO	Failure
33	Y20	29 November 2011 18:50	LA-9, TSLC		Yaogan 13	SSO	Success
34	2CSMA-Y2	14 October 2012 03:25	LA-9, TSLC	2C/SMA	Shijian 9A Shijian 9B	SSO	Success
35	Y17	18 November 2012 22:53	LA-9, TSLC		Huanjing-1C Xinyan 1 Fengniao 1	SSO	Success
36	Y23	15 July 2013 09:27	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		Shijian 11-05	SSO	Success
37	Y28	29 October 2013 02:50	LA-9, TSLC		Yaogan 18	SSO	Success
38	Y27	31 March 2014 02:46	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		Shijian 11-06	SSO	Success
39	Y31	28 September 2014 05:13	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		Shijian 11-07	SSO	Success
40	Y32	27 October 2014 06:59	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		Shijian 11-08	SSO	Success
41	Y35	14 November 2014 18:53	LA-9, TSLC		Yaogan 23	SSO	Success
42	Y29	29 September 2017 04:21	LA-3, XSLC		Yaogan 30-01 A/B/C	LEO	Success
43	Y33	24 November 2017 18:10	LA-3, XSLC		Yaogan 30-02 A/B/C	LEO	Success
44	Y34	25 December 2017 19:44	LA-3, XSLC		Yaogan 30-03 A/B/C	LEO	Success
45	Y36	25 January 2018 05:39	LA-3, XSLC		Yaogan 30-04 A/B/C	LEO	Success
46	Y44	27 June 2018 03:30	LC-3, XSLC		XJSS A/B	LEO	Success
47	2CSMA-Y3	9 July 2018 03:56	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC	2C/SMA	PRSS-1 PakTES-1A	SSO	Success
48	Y39	7 September 2018 03:15	LA-9, TSLC		HaiYang-1C	SSO	Success
49	Y38	9 October 2018 02:43	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC	2C/YZ-1S	Yaogan 32A, 32B	SSO	Success
50	Y22	29 October 2018 00:43	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		CFOSAT	SSO	Success
51	Y37	26 July 2019 03:57	LA-3, XSLC		Yaogan 30-05 A/B/C	LEO	Success
52	Y42	24 March 2020 03:43	LA-3, XSLC		Yaogan 30-06 A/B/C	LEO	Success
53	Y40	10 June 2020 18:31 [5]	LA-9, TSLC		HaiYang 1D	SSO	Success
54	Y43	26 October 2020 15:19 [7]	LA-3, XSLC		Yaogan 30-07 A/B/C	LEO	Success
55	Y47	6 May 2021 18:11[8]	LA-3, XSLC		Yaogan 30-08 A/B/C Tianqi-12	LEO	Success
56	Y48	18 June 2021 06:30[9]	LA-3, XSLC		Yaogan 30-09 A/B/C Tianqi-14	LEO	Success
57	Y49	19 July 2021 00:19[6]	LA-3, XSLC		Yaogan 30-10 A/B/C Tianqi-15	LEO	Success
58	Y51	24 August 2021 11:15[10]	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC	2C/YZ-1S	RSW-01 RSW-02 Undisclosed payload	LEO	Success
59	Y41	3 November 2021 07:43	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC	2C/YZ-1S	Yaogan 32-02 A/B	SSO	Success
60	Y62	5 March 2022 06:01	LA-3, XSLC		Yinhe Hangtian-2 01/.../06 Xuanming Xingyuan	LEO	Success
61	Y70	29 April 2022 04:11	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		SuperView Neo 1-01/02 (Siwei Gaojing 1-01/02)	SSO	Success
62	Y53	20 May 2022 10:30	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC	2C/YZ-1S	LEO Test Sat 1/2 Digui Tongxin Weixing	LEO	Success
63	Y65	2 June 2022 04:00	LA-3, XSLC		GeeSAT-1 01/.../09	LEO	Success
64	Y71	15 July 2022 22:57	LA-9, TSLC		SuperView Neo 2-01/02 (Siwei-03/04)	SSO	Success
65	Y66	12 October 2022 22:53	LA-9, TSLC		S-SAR 01 (Huanjing-2E)	SSO	Success
66	Y61	12 January 2023 18:10	LA-3, XSLC		Apstar 6E +(independent propulsion module)	GTO	Success
67	Y63	24 February 2023 04:01	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		Horus-1	SSO	Success
68	Y64	13 March 2023 04:02	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		Horus-2	SSO	Success
69	Y60	21 May 2023 08:00	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		MSS-1 A/B Luojia-2 01	LEO	Success
70	Y52	9 July 2023 11:00	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC	2C/YZ-1S	Hulianwang Jishu Shiyan 1A, 1B	LEO	Success
71	Y46	8 August 2023 22:53	LA-9, TSLC		S-SAR 02 (Huanjing-2F)	SSO	Success
72	Y56	16 November 2023 03:55	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC	2C/YZ-1S	Haiyang-3A	SSO	Success
73	Y54	4 December 2023 04:10	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		MisrSat-2 Xingchi-2A/2B	SSO	Success
74	Y73	30 December 2023 00:13	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC	2C/YZ-1S	Hulianwang Jishu Shiyan 4A, 4B, 4C	LEO	Success
75	Y30	9 January 2024 07:03	LA-3, XSLC		Einstein Probe	LEO	Success
76	Y85	2 February 2024 23:37	LA-3, XSLC		GeeSAT-2 10/.../20	LEO	Success
77	Y86	13 March 2024 12:51	LA-3, XSLC	2C/YZ-1S	DRO-A, B	Selenocentric (DRO)	Partial failure
78	Y50	22 June 2024 07:00	LA-3, XSLC		SVOM CATCH 1	LEO	Success
79	Y82	23 October 2024 01:09	LA-3, XSLC		Yaogan 43-03A/B/C	LEO	Success
80	Y55	9 November 2024 03:39	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		PIESAT-2A 01 PIESAT-2B 01-03	SSO	Success
81	Y57	24 November 2024 23:39	LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC		SuperView Neo 2-03/04	SSO	Success

Launch failures

Shijian 11-04 launch failure

On 18 August 2011, a Long March 2C rocket failed during the launch of the Shijian 11-04 satellite. During the powered flight phase of the second stage, the connecting mechanism between vernier engine no.3 and the servo-control mechanism of the second stage failed, which led to the loss of attitude control on the second stage.^[11]

Launch statistics

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1982

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

2025

•   Failure
•   Partial failure
•   Success
•   Planned

References

1. "LM-2C". China Great Wall Industry Corporation. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
2. "China's Orbital Launch Activity 2020" (PDF). Bryce Space and Technology. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
3. "Chang Zheng-2C (Long March-2C)". SinoDefence. Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
4. Gunter Dirk Krebs. "CZ-2 (Chang Zheng-2)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
5. Clark, Stephen (10 June 2020). "China launches ocean monitoring satellite". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
6. Navin, Joseph (18 July 2021). "China tests fairing recovery technologies on Long March 2C launch with four satellites". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
7. "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
8. "成功！老将长二丙2021首战！还有7发！" [success! Veteran Chang Er C first match in 2021! There are 7 more shots!] (in Chinese). 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
9. Cong, Zhao (18 June 2021). "两天两连胜！长二丙火箭成功发射遥感三十号09组卫星" [Two consecutive victories in two days! Long March 2C rocket successfully launched Yaogan 30-09 satellites] (in Chinese). CASC. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
10. "又在整流罩上"搞事情"，长二丙送3颗通信卫星飞天" ["Doing things" on the fairing again, Long March 2C sends 3 communication satellites to the sky]. China Space News (in Chinese). 24 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
11. "Malfunction at devices connection blamed for orbiter launch failure". Xinhua News Agency. 6 September 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2015.

External links

• China portal
• Spaceflight portal

• "LM-2C USER'S MANUAL". CALT. 1999. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016.
• Gunter Dirk Krebs. "CZ-2 (Chang Zheng-2)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 9 August 2015.