Long March 3
Rendering of Long March 3 | |
| Function | Carrier rocket |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | CALT |
| Country of origin | China |
| Size | |
| Height | 43.25 metres (141.9 ft) |
| Diameter | 3.35 metres (11.0 ft) |
| Mass | 204,000 kilograms (450,000 lb) |
| Stages | 3 |
| Capacity | |
| Payload to LEO | |
| Mass | 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb) |
| Payload to GTO | |
| Mass | 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb) |
| Associated rockets | |
| Family | Long March |
| Derivative work | Long March 3A |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Retired |
| Launch sites | LA-3, XSLC |
| Total launches | 13 |
| Success(es) | 10 |
| Failure(s) | 2 |
| Partial failure(s) | 1 |
| First flight | 29 January 1984 |
| Last flight | 25 June 2000 |
| First stage | |
| Height | 23.49 m |
| Diameter | 3.35 m |
| Empty mass | 9,378 kg (20,675 lb) |
| Gross mass | 153,070 kg (337,460 lb) |
| Propellant mass | 143,692 kg (316,787 lb) |
| Powered by | 4 YF-21B |
| Maximum thrust | 2,961.6 kN (665,800 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 2,556.2 m/s (260.66 s) |
| Burn time | 121 s |
| Propellant | N2O4 / UDMH |
| Second stage | |
| Height | 9.47 m |
| Diameter | 3.35 m |
| Empty mass | 3,599 kg (7,934 lb) |
| Gross mass | 39,440 kg (86,950 lb) |
| Propellant mass | 35,841 kg (79,016 lb) |
| Powered by | 1 YF-24D (1 x YF-22D (Main)) (4 x YF-23F (Vernier)) |
| Maximum thrust | 741.4 kN (166,700 lbf) (Main) 47.1 kN (10,600 lbf) (Vernier) |
| Specific impulse | 2,922.4 m/s (298.00 s) (Main) 2,762 m/s (281.6 s) (Vernier) |
| Burn time | 130 s |
| Propellant | N2O4 / UDMH |
| Third stage | |
| Height | 10.36 m |
| Diameter | 2.25 m |
| Empty mass | 1,965 kg (4,332 lb) |
| Gross mass | 10,700 kg (23,600 lb) |
| Propellant mass | 8,731 kg (19,249 lb) |
| Powered by | 1 YF-73 |
| Maximum thrust | 44.43 kN (9,990 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 4,119 m/s (420.0 s) |
| Burn time | 729 s |
| Propellant | LH2 / LOX |
The Long March 3 (Chinese: 长征三号火箭), also known as the Changzheng 3, CZ-3 and LM-3, was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket design. They were all launched from Launch Area 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. It was a three-stage rocket, and was mostly used to place DFH-2-class communications satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbits. It was complemented and later replaced by the more powerful Long March 3A, which has an improved third stage.