Long March 3A

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 design. It is a 3-stage rocket, and is usually used to place communications satellites and Beidou navigation satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbits.

Long March 3A
Long March 3A launch
FunctionCarrier rocket
ManufacturerCALT
Country of originChina
Cost per launchUS$70 million
Size
Height52.52 metres (172.3 ft)[1]
Diameter3.35 metres (11.0 ft)[1]
Mass241,000 kilograms (531,000 lb)[1]
Stages3
Capacity
Payload to LEO8,500 kilograms (18,700 lb)[2][3]
Payload to GTO2,600 kilograms (5,700 lb)[4][2]
Payload to HCO1,600 kilograms (3,500 lb)[2][3]
Associated rockets
FamilyLong March
DerivativesLong March 3B
Long March 3C
Launch history
StatusActive
Launch sitesLA-2 & LA-3, XSLC
Total launches27[4]
Successes27[4]
First flight8 February 1994[4]
First stage
Length23.272 m
Diameter3.35 m
Propellant mass171,800 kg (378,800 lb)
Engines4 YF-21C
Thrust2,961.6 kN (665,800 lbf)
Specific impulse2,556.5 m/s (260.69 s)
Burn time148 s
FuelN2O4 / UDMH
Second stage
Length11.276 m
Diameter3.35 m
Propellant mass32,600 kg (71,900 lb)
Engines1 YF-24E
(1 x YF-22E (Main))
(4 x YF-23C (Vernier))
Thrust742 kN (167,000 lbf) (Main)
47.1 kN (10,600 lbf) (Vernier)
Specific impulse2,922.57 m/s (298.019 s) (Main)
2,910.5 m/s (296.79 s) (Vernier)
Burn time115 s
FuelN2O4 / UDMH
Third stage
Length12.375 m
Diameter3.0 m
Propellant mass18,200 kg (40,100 lb)
Engines2 YF-75 [5]
Thrust167.17 kN (37,580 lbf)
Specific impulse4,295 m/s (438.0 s)
Burn time475 s
FuelLH2 / LOX

It has formed the basis of the Long March 3B, which is a heavier version with four liquid booster rockets.

Launches

Long March 3A rockets have been launched from Launch Areas 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

List of launches

Flight number Date (UTC) Launch site Payload Orbit Result
1 February 8, 1994
08:34
LA-2, XSLC Shijian 4 HEO Success
2 November 29, 1994
17:02
LA-2, XSLC Dong Fang Hong 3 GTO Success
3 May 11, 1997
16:17
LA-2, XSLC ChinaSat 6 GTO Success
4 January 25, 2000
16:45
LA-2, XSLC ChinaSat 22 GTO Success
5 October 30, 2000
16:02
LA-2, XSLC Beidou-1A GTO Success
6 December 20, 2000
16:20
LA-2, XSLC Beidou-1B GTO Success
7 May 24, 2003
16:34
LA-2, XSLC Beidou-1C GTO Success
8 November 14, 2003
16:01
LA-2, XSLC ChinaSat 20 GTO Success
9 October 19, 2004
01:20
LA-2, XSLC Fengyun 2C GTO Success
10 September 12, 2006
16:02
LA-2, XSLC ChinaSat 22A GTO Success
11 December 8, 2006
00:53
LA-2, XSLC Fengyun 2D GTO Success
12 February 2, 2007
16:28
LA-2, XSLC Beidou-1D GTO Success
13 April 13, 2007
20:11
LA-3, XSLC Compass-M1 MEO Success
14 May 31, 2007
16:08
LA-3, XSLC SinoSat 3 GTO Success
15 October 24, 2007
10:05
LA-3, XSLC Chang'e 1 LTO Success
16 December 23, 2008
00:54
LA-3, XSLC Fengyun 2E GTO Success
17 July 31, 2010
21:30
LA-3, XSLC Compass-IGSO1 GTO Success
18 November 24, 2010
16:09
LA-3, XSLC ChinaSat 20A GTO Success
19 December 17, 2010
20:20
LA-3, XSLC Compass-IGSO2 GTO Success
20 April 9, 2011
20:47
LA-3, XSLC Compass-IGSO3 GTO Success
21 July 26, 2011
21:44
LA-3, XSLC Compass-IGSO4 GTO Success
22 December 1, 2011
21:07
LA-3, XSLC Compass-IGSO5 GTO Success
23 January 13, 2012
00:56
LA-3, XSLC Fengyun 2F GTO Success
24 December 31, 2014
01:02
LA-2, XSLC Fengyun 2G GTO Success
25 March 29, 2016
20:11
LA-2, XSLC Compass-IGSO6 GTO Success
26 June 5, 2018
13:07
LA-2, XSLC Fengyun 2H GTO Success
27 July 9, 2018
20:58
LA-2, XSLC Compass-IGSO7 GTO Success

Technical data

LM-3A is a 3-stage launch vehicle developed on the basis of LM-3 and LM-2C. Its third stage is powered by cryogenic propellants: liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. It is dedicated for launching spacecraft into GTO. Its launch capability for GTO mission is 2,600 kg. The fairing static envelope is 3m in diameter.[4]

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References

  1. Mark Wade. "CZ-3A". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  2. "LM-3A Series Launch Vehicle User's Manual - Issue 2011" (PDF). China Great Wall Industries Corporation. Retrieved 2015-08-09.
  3. Gunter Krebs. "CZ-3A (Chang Zheng-3A)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  4. "LM-3A". China Great Wall Industry Corporation. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  5. "Long March 3C/E - Rockets". Spaceflight101.com. Retrieved 2016-11-25.


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