Long March 3

Not to be confused with Long March 3 rocket family.
Long March 3

Long March 3
Function Carrier rocket
Manufacturer CALT
Country of origin  People's Republic of China
Size
Height 43.25 metres (141.9 ft)[1]
Diameter 3.35 metres (11.0 ft)[1]
Mass 204,000 kilograms (450,000 lb)[1]
Stages 3
Capacity
Payload to LEO 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb)[2]
Payload to GTO 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb)[2]
Associated rockets
Family Long March
Derivatives Long March 3A
Launch history
Status Retired
Launch sites LA-3, XSLC
Total launches 13
Successes 10
Failures 2
Partial failures 1
First flight 29 January 1984
Last flight 25 June 2000
First stage
Length 23.49 m
Diameter 3.35 m
Empty mass 9,378 kg (20,675 lb)
Gross mass 153,070 kg (337,460 lb)
Propellant mass 143,692 kg (316,787 lb)
Engines 4 YF-21B
Thrust 2,961.6 kN (665,800 lbf)
Specific impulse 2,556.2 m/s (260.66 s)
Burn time 121 s
Fuel N2O4/UDMH
Second stage
Length 9.47 m
Diameter 3.35 m
Empty mass 3,599 kg (7,934 lb)
Gross mass 39,440 kg (86,950 lb)
Propellant mass 35,841 kg (79,016 lb)
Engines 1 YF-24D
(1 x YF-22D (Main))
(4 x YF-23F (Vernier))
Thrust 741.4 kN (166,700 lbf) (Main)
47.1 kN (10,600 lbf) (Vernier)
Specific impulse 2,922.4 m/s (298.00 s) (Main)
2,762 m/s (281.6 s) (Vernier)
Burn time 130 s
Fuel N2O4/UDMH
Third stage
Length 10.36 m
Diameter 2.25 m
Empty mass 1,965 kg (4,332 lb)
Gross mass 10,700 kg (23,600 lb)
Propellant mass 8,731 kg (19,249 lb)
Engines 1 YF-73
Thrust 44.43 kN (9,990 lbf)
Specific impulse 4,119 m/s (420.0 s)
Burn time 729 s
Fuel LH2/LOX

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. It was 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.

List of 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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mark Wade. "CZ-3". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  2. 1 2 Gunter Krebs. "CZ-3 (Chang Zheng-3)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
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