The Long March 2C (LM-2C), also known as the Chang Zheng 2C (CZ-2C), is a Chinese

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

, part of the Long March 2 rocket family. Developed and manufactured by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), the Long March 2C made its first launch on 9 September 1982. It is a two-stage launch vehicle with storable propellants, consisting of

Nitrogen Tetroxide Dinitrogen tetroxide, commonly referred to as nitrogen tetroxide (NTO), and occasionally (usually among ex-USSR/Russian rocket engineers) as amyl, is the chemical compound N2O4. It is a useful reagent in chemical synthesis. It forms an equilibrium ...

and

Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (abbreviated as UDMH; also known as 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, heptyl or Geptil) is a chemical compound with the formula H2NN(CH3)2 that is primarily used as a rocket propellant. At room temperature, UDMH is a colorle ...

. The launch vehicle was derived from the DF-5

ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...

. Several variants of this launch vehicle have been built, all using an optional third solid motor stage: * 2C/SD: Commercial satellite launcher with a multi-satellite smart dispenser allowing delivery of two satellites simultaneously * 2C/SM: Version for delivery of small satellites to high orbits * 2C/SMA: Improved version of the 2C/SM According to the website ''Gunter's Space Page'', in addition to the launches listed in the following table, there may have been six additional CZ-2C launches during 2014 and 2015. These possible launches apparently were conducted at the

Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC) also known as ''Base 25'' (), is a People's Republic of China space and defense launch facility (spaceport). It is situated in Kelan County, Xinzhou, Shanxi Province and is the second of four laun ...

on the following dates: 9 January 2014, 7 August 2014, 2 December 2014, 7 June 2015, 20 August 2015, and 23 November 2015; five of these six launches were apparently successful, while the launch on 7 August 2014 appears to have failed. However, due to the lack of additional sources for these six launches, they are not currently included in the following launch list. Aerodynamic

grid fin Grid fins (or lattice fins) are a type of flight control surfaces, flight control surface used on rockets and bombs, sometimes in place of more conventional control surfaces, such as planar fins. They were developed in the 1950s by a team led by ...

s were added on the Long March 2C in 2019 to help guide falling stages away from populated areas. China is studying using reusable rocket technology in the future. A fairing recovery system through parachutes has been tested during the Yaogan 30-09 and Yaogan 30-10 launches in order to improve control of debris landing inland on potentially populated areas.

List of launches

Launch failures

Shijian 11-04 launch failure

On 18 August 2011, a Long March 2C rocket failed during the launch of the

Shijian Shijian (, Abbreviation, abbr. "SJ") is a series of satellites built and operated by the China, People's Republic of China. Some Shijian-series satellites have drawn significant concerns from the United States government and space observers who ...

11-04 satellite. During the powered flight phase of the second stage, the connecting mechanism between vernier engine no.3 and the servo-control mechanism of the second stage failed, which led to the loss of attitude control on the second stage.

Launch statistics

References

External links