Long March, A World Top-Performer

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, March 26, 2002

Long March, A World Top-Performer

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The successful launch of China's third unmanned spaceship Monday at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province has once again proved the sound performance of China's "Long March" carrier rocket.

The "Long March" has had 24 consecutive successful launches since 1996, making the carrier rocket one of the best-performing satellite-launching rockets in the world, Chinese experts say.

"Long March" was first launched on April 24, 1970, when it managed to send a China-made satellite into space. Since then, thecarrier rocket has had 66 launches, which included 60 successful ones, or 91 percent of the total.

Statistics show that the American Delta booster rocket succeeded in 94 percent of its launches and the European Ariane carrier rocket hit 93 percent.

The six failed launches of "Long March" occurred during the first 42 launches. The latest 24 successful launches since 1996 indicate that the quality of the rocket has improved significantlyand "Long March" can be taken as one of the world's most reliable and safest satellite carrier rockets.

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