Long March 3
Long March 3
|
|
| Function | Carrier rocket |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | CALT |
| Country of origin | China |
| Size | |
| Height | 43.25 metres (141.9 ft) |
| Diameter | 3.35 metres (11.0 ft) |
| Mass | 204,000 kilograms (450,000 lb) |
| Stages | 3 |
| Capacity | |
| Payload to LEO | 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb) |
| Payload to GTO | 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb) |
| 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.
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.
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.
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.
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Wikipedia