Long March 3B
Long March 3B |
| Function |
Carrier rocket |
| Manufacturer |
CALT |
| Country of origin |
 People's Republic of China |
| Size |
| Height |
54.8 metres (180 ft)[1] |
| Diameter |
3.35 metres (11.0 ft)[1] |
| Mass |
425,800 kilograms (939,000 lb)[1] |
| Stages |
3 |
| Capacity |
Payload to
LEO |
12,000 kilograms (26,000 lb)[2] |
Payload to
SSO |
5,700 kilograms (13,000 lb)[2] |
Payload to
GTO |
5,100 kilograms (11,000 lb)[2] |
Payload to
GEO |
2,000 kilograms (4,400 lb)[2] |
Payload to
HCO |
3,300 kilograms (7,300 lb)[2] |
| Associated rockets |
| Family |
Long March |
| Derivatives |
Long March 3C |
| Launch history |
| Status |
Active |
| Launch sites |
LC-2, XSLC |
| Total launches |
9 |
| Successes |
8 |
| Failures |
1 |
| Maiden flight |
14 February 1996 |
The Long March 3B, also known as the Chang Zheng 3B, CZ-3B and LM-3B, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It is launched from Launch Complex 2 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. A 3-stage rocket with four strapon liquid rocket boosters, it is the heaviest member of the Long March 3 rocket family, and is mainly used to place communications satellites into geosynchronous orbits.
During its maiden flight, on 14 February 1996, the rocket suffered a guidance failure two seconds into the flight, and pitched over, crashing into a village 22 seconds after launch. The Intelsat 708 satellite was lost, and an estimated 800 villagers were killed. Since that, eight successful flights have been made. On 13 May 2007, one was used to launch NigComSat-1, the first African geosynchronous communications satellite.
A modified version, the Long March 3C, was built to bridge the gap in payload capacity between the Long March 3B and 3A. This consists of a Long March 3B, with two boosters instead of four, and first flew on 25 April 2008.
References
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