The Long March 3A (Chinese: 长征三号甲火箭), also known as the Chang Zheng 3A, CZ-3A and LM-3A, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March family of expendable rockets. A three-stage rocket, it was usually used to place communications satellites and Beidou navigation satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit. It was manufactured by the Great Wall Industry Corporation.
History and specifications
The Long March 3A is the first variant of the Long March 3. The first stage was lengthened from 20.219 metres (66.34 ft) to 23.075 metres (75.71 ft), and the third stage was enlarged and redesigned to accommodate two YF-75 rocket engines, whereas its predecessor had a single YF-73; this gave it the capability to lift 2.3 tonnes (2.5 tons) into geosynchronous orbit, compared to the Long March 3's 1.4 tonnes (1.5 tons). A new computer system was also installed.
The first and second stages used hypergolic propellants (unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide), while the third used cryogenic fuel (liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen).
Its achievements include powering the first two BeiDou navigation satellites into orbit (Beidou 1A on 30 October 2000 and Beidou 1B on 20 December), as well as China's first Moon probe, Chang'e 1, into lunar orbit in 2007.
It formed the basis of the Long March 3B, which by adding four strap-on booster rockets increased the lifting capacity to 4.8 tonnes (5.3 tons).
Launch statistics
- Failure
- Partial failure
- Success
- Planned
Launches
Long March 3A rockets were launched from Launch Areas 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC).
| Flight number | Serial number | Date (UTC) | Launch site | Payload | Orbit | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Y1 | 8 February 1994 08:34 |
LA-2, XSLC | Shijian 4 | HEO | Success |
| 2 | Y2 | 29 November 1994 17:02 |
LA-2, XSLC | Dong Fang Hong 3 | GTO | Success |
| 3 | Y3 | 11 May 1997 16:17 |
LA-2, XSLC | ChinaSat 6 | GTO | Success |
| 4 | Y4 | 25 January 2000 16:45 |
LA-2, XSLC | ChinaSat 22 | GTO | Success |
| 5 | Y5 | 30 October 2000 16:02 |
LA-2, XSLC | Beidou-1A | GTO | Success |
| 6 | Y6 | 20 December 2000 16:20 |
LA-2, XSLC | Beidou-1B | GTO | Success |
| 7 | Y7 | 24 May 2003 16:34 |
LA-2, XSLC | Beidou-1C | GTO | Success |
| 8 | Y8 | 14 November 2003 16:01 |
LA-2, XSLC | ChinaSat 20 | GTO | Success |
| 9 | Y9 | 19 October 2004 01:20 |
LA-2, XSLC | Fengyun 2C | GTO | Success |
| 10 | Y10 | 12 September 2006 16:02 |
LA-2, XSLC | ChinaSat 22A | GTO | Success |
| 11 | Y11 | 8 December 2006 00:53 |
LA-2, XSLC | Fengyun 2D | GTO | Success |
| 12 | Y12 | 2 February 2007 16:28 |
LA-2, XSLC | Beidou-1D | GTO | Success |
| 13 | Y13 | 13 April 2007 20:11 |
LA-3, XSLC | Compass-M1 | MEO | Success |
| 14 | Y15 | 31 May 2007 16:08 |
LA-3, XSLC | SinoSat 3 | GTO | Success |
| 15 | Y14 | 24 October 2007 10:05 |
LA-3, XSLC | Chang'e 1 | LTO | Success |
| 16 | Y20 | 23 December 2008 00:54 |
LA-3, XSLC | Fengyun 2E | GTO | Success |
| 17 | Y16 | 31 July 2010 21:30 |
LA-3, XSLC | Compass-IGSO1 | GTO | Success |
| 18 | Y21 | 24 November 2010 16:09 |
LA-3, XSLC | ChinaSat 20A | GTO | Success |
| 19 | Y18 | 17 December 2010 20:20 |
LA-3, XSLC | Compass-IGSO2 | GTO | Success |
| 20 | Y19 | 9 April 2011 20:47 |
LA-3, XSLC | Compass-IGSO3 | GTO | Success |
| 21 | Y17 | 26 July 2011 21:44 |
LA-3, XSLC | Compass-IGSO4 | GTO | Success |
| 22 | Y23 | 1 December 2011 21:07 |
LA-3, XSLC | Compass-IGSO5 | GTO | Success |
| 23 | Y22 | 13 January 2012 00:56 |
LA-3, XSLC | Fengyun 2F | GTO | Success |
| 24 | Y24 | 31 December 2014 01:02 |
LA-2, XSLC | Fengyun 2G | GTO | Success |
| 25 | Y26 | 29 March 2016 20:11 |
LA-2, XSLC | Compass-IGSO6 | GTO | Success |
| 26 | Y25 | 5 June 2018 13:07 |
LA-2, XSLC | Fengyun 2H | GTO | Success |
| 27 | Y27 | 9 July 2018 20:58 |
LA-2, XSLC | Compass-IGSO7 | GTO | Success |
