Long March 2F

The Long March 2F (Chinese: 长征二号F火箭 Changzheng 2F), also known as the CZ-2F, LM-2F and Shenjian (神箭, "the Divine Arrow"),[1] is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March 2 rocket family. Designed to launch crewed Shenzhou spacecraft, the Long March 2F is a human-rated two-stage version of the Long March 2E rocket, which in turn was based on the Long March 2C launch vehicle.[2] It is launched from complex SLS at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. The Long March 2F made its maiden flight on 19 November 1999, with the Shenzhou 1 spacecraft. After the flight of Shenzhou 3, CPC General Secretary and President Jiang Zemin named the rocket 'Shenjian' meaning 'Divine Arrow'.[3]

Long March 2F

Chang Zheng 2F "Shenjian"
Function	Human-rated orbital launch vehicle
Manufacturer	CALT
Country of origin	China
Size
Height	62 m (203 ft)[1]
Diameter	3.35 m (11.0 ft)[1]
Mass	464,000 kg (1,023,000 lb)[1]
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO	8,400 kg (18,500 lb)[1]
Associated rockets
Family	Long March 2
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	SLS, JSLC
Total launches	13
Successes	13
First flight	19 November 1999
Boosters
No. boosters	4
Length	15.3 m (50 ft)
Diameter	2.3 m (7 ft 7 in)
Empty mass	3,200 kg (7,100 lb)
Gross mass	41,000 kg (90,000 lb)
Engines	1 YF-20B per booster
Thrust	814 kN (183,000 lbf)
Total thrust	3,256 kN (732,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	291 s (2.85 km/s)
Burn time	128 seconds (2.13 min)
Fuel	N2O4/UDMH
First stage
Length	23.7 m (78 ft)
Diameter	3.4 m (11 ft)
Empty mass	9,500 kg (20,900 lb)
Gross mass	196,500 kg (433,200 lb)
Engines	4 YF-20B
Thrust	3,256 kN (732,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	291 s (2.85 km/s)
Burn time	166 seconds (2.77 min)
Fuel	N2O4/UDMH
Second stage
Length	13.5 m (44 ft)
Diameter	3.4 m (11 ft)
Empty mass	5,500 kg (12,100 lb)
Gross mass	91,500 kg (201,700 lb)
Engines	1 YF-24B
Thrust	831 kN (187,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	289 s (2.83 km/s)
Burn time	300 seconds (5.0 min)
Fuel	N2O4/UDMH

On 15 October 2003, a Long March 2F launched Shenzhou 5, China's first human spaceflight. It has since launched the Shenzhou 6, Shenzhou 7, Shenzhou 9, Shenzhou 10 and Shenzhou 11 missions into orbit.[4][5]

Differences from the Long March 2E

Externally, the rocket is similar to the Long March 2E from which it was derived. Most of the changes involve the addition of redundant systems to improve safety, although there are some structural modifications that allow the rocket to support the heavier fairing required by the Shenzhou capsule. The rocket is also capable of lifting heavier payloads with the addition of extra boosters to the first stage.[6]

The rocket also has an "advanced fault monitoring and diagnosis system to help the astronauts escape in time of emergency" (in other words, a launch escape system), and is the first Chinese made rocket to be assembled and rolled out to its launch site vertically.[7]

A derivative called Long March 2F/G, first launched in 2011, was designed to launch space laboratories such as Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2. It dispenses with the launch escape system and sports a larger fairing to accommodate the bulkier payloads.[8]

Vibration issues

During the Shenzhou 5 flight, Yang Liwei became unwell due to heavy vibrations from the rocket. Although the problem was reduced somewhat by modifications to the rocket, vibrations were reported again in Shenzhou 6 necessitating further changes. According to Jing Muchun, chief designer of the Long March 2F "We made changes to the pipelines of the rocket engine, adjusting its frequency. A new design for the pressure accumulator produced evident results. The vibration has now been reduced by more than 50 percent." [9]

The predecessor Long March 2E had also been known for vibration. During two launches, excessive vibration caused the collapse of the payload fairing, destroying the Optus B2 and Apstar 2 satellites.[10] After the payload fairing was redesigned, excessive vibration also damaged the AsiaSat 2 satellite during launch. The Long March 2E was withdrawn from the geostationary launch market a year later.[11]

List of launches

Main article: List of Long March launches

Flight number	Date (UTC)	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Crew	Result	Remarks
1	November 19, 1999 22:30	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 1	LEO	N/A	Success	First uncrewed test of the Shenzhou spacecraft
2	January 9, 2001 17:00	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 2	LEO	N/A	Success	Second uncrewed test of the Shenzhou spacecraft, carried live animals
3	March 25, 2002 14:15	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 3	LEO	N/A	Success	Third uncrewed test of the Shenzhou spacecraft
4	December 29, 2002 16:40	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 4	LEO	N/A	Success	Final uncrewed test of the Shenzhou spacecraft prior to flying with crew
5	October 15, 2003 01:00	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 5	LEO	Yang Liwei	Success	China's first crewed spaceflight
6	October 12, 2005 01:00	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 6	LEO	Fei Junlong Nie Haisheng	Success	Second crewed spaceflight, first with two astronauts
7	September 25, 2008 13:10	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 7	LEO	Zhai Zhigang Liu Boming Jing Haipeng	Success	First flight with three crew members, first to feature extra-vehicular activity
8	September 29, 2011 13:16	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Tiangong 1	LEO	N/A	Success	The first Chinese space station. Modified version Long March 2F/G with larger payload fairing[8]
9	October 31, 2011 21:58	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 8	LEO	N/A	Success	Uncrewed spaceflight to test automatic rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1
10	June 16, 2012 10:37	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 9	LEO	Jing Haipeng Liu Wang Liu Yang	Success	Three crew members, to test rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1
11	June 11, 2013 09:38	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 10	LEO	Nie Haisheng Zhang Xiaoguang Wang Yaping	Success	Three crew members; rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1
12	September 15, 2016 14:04	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Tiangong 2	LEO	N/A	Success	Second Chinese space laboratory Tiangong-2, launched by 2F/G variant
13	October 16, 2016 23:30	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 11	LEO	Jing Haipeng Chen Dong	Success	Two crew members;[12] rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-2 for a 30-day mission.
14	May 2020	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Experimental space plane	LEO	N/A	Planned	Test flight of an Experimental space plane[13]
15	2021	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 12	LEO	TBA TBA TBA	Planned	Two to three crew members; planned to vist the Tianhe-1, the first module of the Chinese Space Station[14]
16	2021-22	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 13	LEO	TBA TBA TBA	Planned	Two to three crew members; planned to vist the Tianhe-1, to continue construction of the space station

References

1. Mark Wade. "CZ-2F". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
2. "LM-2F - Launch Vehicle". CGWIC. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
3. "CZ". Astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
4. "China to launch Shenzhou-7 spacecraft on Thursday". news.xinhuanet.com. English Xinhua. 2008-09-24. Archived from the original on 2009-07-05. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
5. "China's Shenzhou 11 blasts off on space station mission". BBC. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
6. "Long March 2F - Summary". Spaceandtech.com. 1999-11-20. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
7. Archived May 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
8. Jones, Morris (2016-01-27). "Last Launch for Long March 2F/G". Space Daily. Retrieved 2016-04-07. The principal difference between the Shenzhou-launching Long March 2F and its 2F/G cousin is easy to spot. The 2F/G carries a very different payload fairing at its top. This accounts. for the larger dimensions of the Tiangong laboratory, which wouldn't fit inside the standard payload fairing for the 2F.
   It also lacks an emergency escape system. With no astronauts on board, the escape rocket and stabilizer panels that help Shenzhou spacecraft to separate from their rocket in a launch failure are not needed. This simplifies the design and also reduces the weight of the rocket. That's critical. Tiangong modules weigh more than Shenzhou spacecraft, so this helps to keep the overall launch mass within performance limits.
9. "CCTV International". Cctv.com. 2008-09-25. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
10. Zinger, Kurtis J. (2014). "An Overreaction that Destroyed an Industry: The Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Satellite Export Controls" (PDF). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
11. "CZ-2E Space Launch Vehicle". GlobalSecurity.org.
12. Huang, Jin (8 March 2016). "Why will Shenzhou-11 carry only two astronauts to space?". People's Daily Online. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
13. https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=50274.msg2079224#new
14. https://spacenews.com/chinese-space-program-insights-emerge-from-national-peoples-congress/