China's Progress in Aerospace Carrier Technology

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, May 15, 2002

China's Progress in Aerospace Carrier Technology

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The latest satellite launches by China mark the giant strides the country has made in its space program and the development of the Long March series of carrier rockets.

On Wednesday morning, two new satellites on a Long March 4B carrier rocket went into orbit from the satellite launch center in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province.

Monitoring statistics show that the error of launch precision with the carrier rocket is less than 1,000 meters, far below the error benchmark allowed.

China had so far successfully launched 12 types of Long March rocket, and had just completed the research work on two new rockets which are awaiting test launches, said Zhang Qingwei, general manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Company Group.

Six of the rockets are used for lower earth orbit launches, four are designed for medium-range orbit, and the other four are designed for higher orbit.

Payloads ranged from 0.2 tons to eight tons for lower earth orbit rockets, 0.4 tons to 2.8 tons for sun-synchronous orbit rockets, and 1.5 tons to 5.1 tons for geostationary transfer orbit, Zhang went on.

"Long March series rockets, with their designed carrying capacities, have met the demands for launching space vehicles at lower, middle and higher earth orbits," said Zhang.

The Long March 2E rocket developed in the latter half of the 1980s was a breakthrough in Chinese rocket technology, sending a 9.5-ton payload into a near-earth orbit and laying a solid foundation for manned space missions.

The Long March 3B rockets developed in the mid 1990s raised the payload of China's carrier rockets for geostationary transfer orbit to 5.1 tons, the world's fourth largest rocket payload.

In the meantime, China has become the third country to master the technology of low-temperature high-energy propellant and the second to master the technology of the engine's second ignition in the upper air.

Zhang said that Long March 3A and Long March 3B rockets were renowned for having bigger payloads at higher orbits.

He added that China's remarkable progress in aerospace carrier technology has not only promoted the country's development in satellite and manned space technology, but also played an important role in broadening international cooperation in aerospace and improving the country's strength in science, technology, national defence.

Long March Series


LM 1 D	LM 2B	LM 2E	LM 2F

LM 3	LM 3A	LM 3B	LM 3C

Click each photo for Chinese introduction

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