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Long March 3B Rocket: 100 Launches Mark a Glorious Milestone, Powering China's Spaceflight Soar

Tech 2024-12-04 19:42:44 Source: Network

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Long March 3B Rocket: 100 Launches Mark a Glorious Milestone, Powering China's Spaceflight SoarAt 13:56 today (December 3rd), China successfully launched the Communication Technology Satellite 13 (CTS-13) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center using a Long March 3B carrier rocket. The satellite successfully entered its planned orbit, marking a complete success for the mission

Long March 3B Rocket: 100 Launches Mark a Glorious Milestone, Powering China's Spaceflight Soar

At 13:56 today (December 3rd), China successfully launched the Communication Technology Satellite 13 (CTS-13) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center using a Long March 3B carrier rocket. The satellite successfully entered its planned orbit, marking a complete success for the mission. This achievement not only signifies the successful deployment of CTS-13 but also enters the annals of Chinese space history: the Long March 3B rocket has become the first Chinese rocket model to complete 100 launches. This milestone achievement highlights the remarkable progress of Chinese space technology and the Long March 3B's reliability and adaptability.

Long March 3B Rocket: 100 Launches Mark a Glorious Milestone, Powering China

CTS-13 is primarily used for satellite communication, broadcasting, and data transmission services, and will also conduct related technical experiments and verifications. Its successful launch further enhances China's independent capabilities in satellite communication, providing more reliable technical support for national economic development. The consistent performance of the Long March 3B rocket over 100 launches further demonstrates its exceptional performance and reliability, laying a solid foundation for future, more complex space missions.

Long March 3B Rocket: 100 Launches Mark a Glorious Milestone, Powering China

The Long March 3B rocket is a high-thrust carrier rocket mainly used for launching geostationary orbit spacecraft. It adopts a three-stage configuration with four strap-on boosters, reaching a total length of 56.5 meters and possessing a geostationary transfer orbit payload capacity of 5.5 tons. This powerful carrying capacity allows it to meet the launch needs of the vast majority of domestic high-orbit spacecraft, making it an indispensable part of China's space program.

Long March 3B Rocket: 100 Launches Mark a Glorious Milestone, Powering China

Jin Zhiqiang, from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, stated that while this mission was a routine application launch, the team strives for improvements in process optimization, reliability enhancement, and product development in every launch. This mission included five technological innovations. He further emphasized that the Long March 3B rocket will maintain a high-density launch state to ensure the smooth implementation of major space projects, and is expected to maintain this high-density launch rate for the next three to five years, covering missions in deep space exploration, communication, and meteorology.

Long March 3B Rocket: 100 Launches Mark a Glorious Milestone, Powering China

The success of the Long March 3B rocket is not only a technological breakthrough but also the culmination of decades of hard work by Chinese space professionals. Its origins can be traced back to the 1980s and 1990s, a time when China began developing and launching communication satellites. The national "862 Project" was launched, aiming to launch China's own geostationary communication satellites. 23 million RMB was allocated to develop the Long March 3A rocket, with a carrying capacity of no less than 2.5 tons.

Long March 3B Rocket: 100 Launches Mark a Glorious Milestone, Powering China

However, to target the international commercial satellite launch service market, Chinese space engineers realized the need for a rocket with greater carrying capacity. Academician Long Lehao, the first chief commander and chief designer of the Long March 3A series of carrier rockets, recalled that the team enhanced the Long March 3A by adding different numbers of strap-on boosters, increasing its geostationary orbit carrying capacity from 2.5 tons to 5.5 tons, thus meeting the launch needs of most international satellites. The Long March 3B rocket, with its four strap-on boosters, became the most powerful member of the Long March 3A series.

Long March 3B Rocket: 100 Launches Mark a Glorious Milestone, Powering China

Academician Long Lehao also described the team's dedication: "We used draft drawings to sign contracts, used contracts to secure loans, and used loans to build rockets." This daring and innovative spirit made the Long March 3B the largest, most technologically advanced, and most complex carrier rocket in China at that time. At the end of the 20th century, the Long March 3B successfully launched four satellites manufactured by the US and France, enhancing China's international competitiveness in commercial satellite launch services, strengthening cooperation with other countries in the aerospace field, and showcasing the rise of China's space capabilities.

As China's main high-orbit carrier rocket, the Long March 3B's adaptability has closely linked it to a series of major national projects, such as lunar exploration and the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. Driven by these major projects, the Long March 3B has continuously broken through key technologies and achieved remarkable results.

Since the successful launch of China's first BeiDou navigation test satellite on October 31, 2000, until September 19, 2024, the Long March 3B rocket has successfully launched 64 BeiDou navigation satellites with a 100% success rate. In this process, the Long March 3B continuously overcame technical bottlenecks. For example, to meet the needs of the BeiDou Navigation System's global coverage, it developed design technologies suitable for different orbital planes; to meet the urgency of BeiDou network construction, it developed one-launch-two-satellites technology and new upper-stage technology. These technological breakthroughs not only served the BeiDou project but were also widely applied to other satellite launch missions.

In addition to the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, the Long March 3B rocket has also undertaken multiple launch missions for China's lunar exploration program. On December 2, 2013, the Long March 3B successfully launched Chang'e 3, achieving China's first soft landing on the moon; on December 8, 2018, it successfully launched Chang'e 4, achieving the first-ever soft landing of a probe on the far side of the moon. In these lunar exploration missions, the Long March 3B also overcame numerous technical challenges, such as breaking through the Earth-Moon transfer orbit technology, achieving an apogee accuracy more than 10 times higher than that of a geostationary satellite, improving orbital accuracy, and shortening the launch window time limit.

Furthermore, the Long March 3B rocket has repeatedly launched Fengyun and Gaofen series satellites, providing important support for the construction of many major national space projects. In the 28 years since its maiden flight, the Long March 3B rocket, with its excellent performance and reliability, has made a tremendous contribution to the development of China's space industry, becoming a crucial force in the rise of China's space program. Its glorious achievement of 100 launches is not only a reflection of technological progress but also the best interpretation of the perseverance and innovative spirit of Chinese space professionals. The Long March 3B rocket will continue to shoulder its mission, contributing to the future development of China's space industry and writing even more glorious chapters.

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