Long March Series Data

Josh Hopkins

Vehicle        |     Payload  kg  (lbs)   |  Reliability  | Price
(nation)       |  LEO      Polar    GEO   |               |
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Long March
(China)
* CZ-1D          720       ???      200         0/0           $10m
              (1,590)              (440)

  CZ-2C         2800      1750     1000       14/14           $20m
               (7040)    (3860)   (2200)

  CZ-2E         9200       ???     3370         3/5           $40m
              (20,300)            (7430)

  CZ-3          5050       ???     1500         7/9           $33m
              (11,150)            (3300)

  CZ-3A         ???        ???     2500         1/1           $???m
                                  (5500)

* CZ-3B         ???        ???     4800         0/0           $???m
                                 (10,560)

  CZ-4          4000       2500    1100         2/2           $???m
               (8800)     (5500)  (2430)
                                                      * Planned

The Long March family includes a variety of different vehicles from the small CZ-1D to the CZ-2E heavy GEO launcher. They are used both for national programs and for international commercial launches. While Long March vehicles are restricted from undercutting western prices by more than 15%, they have been attractive to many satellite owners in Asia. The CZ-2E has suffered two poorly explained failures while carrying Hughes HS-601 spacecraft. Several CZ-2C/SD vehicles will be used to launch Iridium spacecraft starting in 1998. First launch for the 1D and 3B variants is scheduled for 1996. There have also been reports of a new "CZ-3C" variant with strap-on boosters. In addition, China has operated the CZ-2D, which is slightly larger than the 2C version. However, data on these vehicles are not available.