Long March 4C
The Long March 4C, also known as the Chang Zheng 4C, CZ-4C and LM-4C, previously designated Long March 4B-II, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It is launched from the Jiuquan, Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre and Xichangs, and consists of 3 stages. Long March 4C vehicles have been used to launch the Yaogan-1, Yaogan-3 SAR satellites and the Fengyun-3A polar orbiting meteorological satellite. On December 15, 2009 a Long March 4C was used to launch Yaogan 8.[3]
Long March 4C | |
Function | Carrier rocket |
---|---|
Manufacturer | SAST |
Country of origin | China |
Size | |
Height | 45.8 metres (150 ft)[1] |
Diameter | 3.35 metres (11.0 ft)[1] |
Mass | 250,000 kilograms (550,000 lb)[1] |
Stages | 3 |
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO | 4,200 kilograms (9,300 lb)[2] |
Payload to SSO | 2,800 kilograms (6,200 lb)[2] |
Payload to GTO | 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb)[2] |
Associated rockets | |
Family | Long March |
Launch history | |
Status | Active |
Launch sites | LA-7 & LA-9, TSLC LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC LA-3, XSLC |
Total launches | 28 |
Successes | 26 |
Failures | 2 |
First flight | 26 April 2006 |
First stage | |
Length | 27.91 m |
Diameter | 3.35 m |
Propellant mass | 182,000 kg (401,000 lb) |
Engines | 4 YF-21C |
Thrust | 2,961.6 kN (665,800 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 2,550 m/s (260 s) |
Fuel | N2O4 / UDMH |
Second stage | |
Length | 10.9 m |
Diameter | 3.35 m |
Propellant mass | 52,700 kg (116,200 lb) |
Engines | 1 YF-24C (1 x YF-22C (Main)) (4 x YF-23C (Vernier)) |
Thrust | 742.04 kN (166,820 lbf) (Main) 47.1 kN (10,600 lbf) (Vernier) |
Specific impulse | 2,942 m/s (300.0 s) (Main) 2,834 m/s (289.0 s) (Vernier) |
Fuel | N2O4 / UDMH |
Third stage | |
Length | 14.79 m |
Diameter | 2.9 m |
Propellant mass | 14,000 kg (31,000 lb) |
Engines | 2 YF-40A |
Thrust | 100.85 kN (22,670 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 2,971 m/s (303.0 s) |
Fuel | N2O4 / UDMH |
Because it was still designated as Long March 4B-II at the time of its maiden flight, the first launch is often mistaken for a Long March 4B. The Long March 4C is derived from the Long March 4B, but features a restartable upper stage, and a larger payload fairing.
On September 1, 2016, the Long March-4C (Chang Zheng-4C) failed for reasons not yet known. A Long March 4C rocket blasted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi but failed to insert its payload, the Gaofen-10 satellite, into its designated orbit.[4][5]
List of launches
Flight number | Date (UTC) | Launch site | Payload | Orbit | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | April 26, 2006 22:48 |
LA-7, TSLC | Yaogan 1 | SSO | Success |
2 | November 11, 2007 22:48 |
LA-7, TSLC | Yaogan 3 | SSO | Success |
3 | May 27, 2008 03:02 |
LA-7, TSLC | Fengyun 3A | SSO | Success |
4 | December 15, 2009 02:31 |
LA-9, TSLC | Yaogan 8 Xiwang 1 |
SSO | Success |
5 | March 5, 2010 04:55 |
LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC | Yaogan 9A Yaogan 9B Yaogan 9C |
LEO | Success |
6 | August 9, 2010 22:49 |
LA-9, TSLC | Yaogan 10 | SSO | Success |
7 | November 4, 2010 18:37 |
LA-9, TSLC | Fengyun 3B | SSO | Success |
8 | May 29, 2012 07:31 |
LA-9, TSLC | Yaogan 15 | SSO | Success |
9 | November 25, 2012 04:06 |
LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC | Yaogan 16A Yaogan 16B Yaogan 16C |
LEO | Success |
10 | July 19, 2013 23:37 |
LA-9, TSLC | Shijian 15 Shiyan-7 Chuangxin-3 |
SSO | Success |
11 | September 1, 2013 19:16 |
LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC | Yaogan 17A Yaogan 17B Yaogan 17C |
LEO | Success |
12 | September 23, 2013 03:07 |
LA-9, TSLC | Fengyun 3C | SSO | Success |
13 | November 20, 2013 03:31 |
LA-9, TSLC | Yaogan 19 | SSO | Success |
14 | August 9, 2014 05:45 |
LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC | Yaogan 20A Yaogan 20B Yaogan 20C |
LEO | Success |
15 | October 20, 2014 06:31 |
LA-9, TSLC | Yaogan 22 | SSO | Success |
16 | December 10, 2014 19:33 |
LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC | Yaogan 25A Yaogan 25B Yaogan 25C |
LEO | Success |
17 | August 27, 2015 02:31 |
LA-9, TSLC | Yaogan 27 | SSO | Success |
18 | November 26, 2015 21:24 |
LA-9, TSLC | Yaogan 29 | SSO | Success |
19 | August 9, 2016 22:55 |
LA-9, TSLC | Gaofen 3 | SSO | Success |
20 | August 31, 2016 18:50 |
LA-9, TSLC | Gaofen 10 | SSO | Failure |
21 | November 14, 2017 18:35 |
LA-9, TSLC | Fengyun 3D HEAD-1 |
SSO | Success |
22 | March 31, 2018 03:22 |
LA-9, TSLC | Gaofen-1 02 Gaofen-1 03 Gaofen-1 04 |
SSO | Success |
23 | April 10, 2018 04:25 |
LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC | Yaogan 31-01A Yaogan 31-01B Yaogan 31-01C |
LEO | Success |
24 | May 8, 2018 18:28 |
LA-9, TSLC | Gaofen 5 | SSO | Success |
25 | May 20, 2018 21:28 |
LA-3, XSLC | Queqiao (Chang'e 4 relay satellite) Longjiang-1 Longjiang-2 |
Earth–Moon L2 | Success |
26 | May 22, 2019 22:49 |
LA-9, TSLC | Yaogan 33 | SSO | Failure[6] |
27 | October 4, 2019 18:51 |
LA-9, TSLC | Gaofen 10-2 | SSO | Success |
28 | November 27, 2019 23:52 |
LA-9, TSLC | Gaofen 12 | SSO | Success |
References
- Brian Harvey (2013). China in Space: The Great Leap Forward. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-4614-5043-6.
- Gunter Krebs. "CZ-4C (Chang Zheng-4C)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
- Rui C. Barbosa (15 December 2009). "China completes 2009 schedule by launching another spy satellite". NASASpaceFlight.com.
- Stephen Chen (2 September 2016). "Chinese rocket launch reported to have failed, destroying cutting-edge earth observation satellite". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- Rui C. Barbosa (2 September 2016). "Long March 4C apparently fails during Gaofen-10 launch". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- "Launch of Yaogan-33 satellite fails in north China". Retrieved 23 May 2019.