Long March Launch Vehicles — Responsive to both Domestic and International Market

Abstract

China developed its own Long March series of launch vehicles; it launched the very first China-built satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1 (DFH-1), on April 24, 1970, and so becoming the fifth country in the world to launch its own satellite using its own launch vehicle. When China put the Long March launch vehicles onto the international market on October 25, 1985, there had been 12 Long March launches and the launch vehicles made available were Long March 3 and Long March 2C. It was the Long March 3 launcher that was first used to launch the U.S.-built commercial communications satellite, AsiaSat-1. In response to market demand and after an analysis of the whole market situation, China started to develop new launch vehicles. The Long March 2E launch vehicle was developed when the major satellite manufacturers were proceeding with the new generation of larger telecommunications satellites, and there were upper stages remaining to be launched after the phase-out of the Space Shuttle for commercial launches in August 1986. As the test flight of the Long March 2E succeeded and the development of a larger launch vehicle for GTO missions proceeded as expected, the most powerful launcher in the Long March family, Long March 3B, was proposed to the international market. At the time of its development, the standard GTO capability of Long March 3B was 4,800 kg. After its first successful flight, its GTO performance was raised to 5,000 kg and now 5,100 kg is offered to customers. The Long March 3B outperformed the available U.S. launch vehicles for commercial launchers — Atlas and Delta. Unfortunately, the commercial launch services business has now been circumvented with quotas, sanctions, issues related to export licenses for commercial communications satellites, changes of jurisdiction over commercial communications satellites, etc.. For the future of the Long March launch vehicles, it is clear — both from the market, and technical aspects — how to respond to the demand.