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Long March 3A
Chinese orbital carrier rocket From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Long March 3A (Chinese: 长征三号甲火箭), also known as the Chang Zheng 3A, CZ-3A and LM-3A, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March family[7] of expendable rockets. A three-stage rocket, it was usually used to place communications satellites and Beidou navigation satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit. It was manufactured by the Great Wall Industry Corporation.[8]
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History and specifications
The Long March 3A is the first variant of the Long March 3.[9] The first stage was lengthened from 20.219 metres (66.34 ft) to 23.075 metres (75.71 ft), and the third stage was enlarged and redesigned to accommodate two YF-75 rocket engines, whereas its predecessor had a single YF-73; this gave it the capability to lift 2.3 tonnes (2.5 tons) into geosynchronous orbit, compared to the Long March 3's 1.4 tonnes (1.5 tons).[9] A new computer system was also installed.[9]
The first and second stages used hypergolic propellants (unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide), while the third used cryogenic fuel (liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen).[7]
Its achievements include powering the first two BeiDou navigation satellites into orbit (Beidou 1A on 30 October 2000[10] and Beidou 1B on 20 December[11]), as well as China's first Moon probe, Chang'e 1, into lunar orbit in 2007.[12][13]
It formed the basis of the Long March 3B, which by adding four strap-on booster rockets increased the lifting capacity to 4.8 tonnes (5.3 tons).[9]
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Launch statistics
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- Planned
Launches
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Long March 3A rockets were launched from Launch Areas 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC).[8]
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