The Long March 4C, also known as the Chang Zheng 4C, CZ-4C and LM-4C, previously designated Long March 4B-II, is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle. It is launched from the Jiuquan, Taiyuan, and Xichang Satellite Launch Centers, and consists of 3 stages. Long March 4C vehicles have been used to launch the Yaogan-1, Yaogan-3 synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellites and the Fengyun-3A polar orbiting meteorological satellite. On 15 December 2009, a Long March 4C was used to launch Yaogan-8.[3]

Rendering of Long March 4C
FunctionLaunch vehicle
ManufacturerSAST
Country of originChina
Size
Height45.8 m (150 ft) [1]
Diameter3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Mass250,000 kg (550,000 lb)
Stages3
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass4,200 kg (9,300 lb) [2]
Payload to SSO
Mass2,800 kg (6,200 lb) [2]
Payload to GTO
Mass1,500 kg (3,300 lb) [2]
Associated rockets
FamilyLong March
Launch history
StatusActive
Launch sitesTSLC, LA-7, LA-9
JSLC, LA-4/SLS-2
XSLC, LA-3
Total launches55
Success(es)53
Failure(s)2
First flight26 April 2006
Last flight15 October 2024
First stage
Height27.91 m
Diameter3.35 m
Propellant mass182,000 kg (401,000 lb)
Powered by4 YF-21C
Maximum thrust2,961.6 kN (665,800 lbf)
Specific impulse2,550 m/s (8,400 ft/s)
PropellantN2O4 / UDMH
Second stage
Height10.9 m
Diameter3.35 m
Propellant mass52,700 kg (116,200 lb)
Powered by1 YF-24C
(1 x YF-22C (Main))
(4 x YF-23C (Vernier))
Maximum thrust742.04 kN (166,820 lbf) (Main)
47.1 kN (10,600 lbf) (Vernier)
Specific impulse2,942 m/s (9,650 ft/s) (Main)
2,834 m/s (9,300 ft/s) (Vernier)
PropellantN2O4 / UDMH
Third stage
Height14.79 m
Diameter2.9 m
Propellant mass14,000 kg (31,000 lb)
Powered by2 YF-40A
Maximum thrust100.85 kN (22,670 lbf)
Specific impulse2,971 m/s (9,750 ft/s)
PropellantN2O4 / UDMH

Because it was still designated as Long March 4B-II at the time of its maiden flight, the first launch is often mistaken for a Long March 4B. The Long March 4C is derived from the Long March 4B, but features a restartable upper stage, and a larger payload fairing.

On 1 September 2016, the Long March 4C failed for reasons not yet known. A Long March 4C rocket blasted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi but failed to insert its payload, the Gaofen 10 satellite, into its designated orbit.[4][5]

Launch statistics

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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
2006
2010
2015
2020
  •   Failure
  •   Partial failure
  •   Success
  •   Planned

List of launches

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Flight number Serial number Date (UTC) Launch site Payload Orbit Result
1 Y1 26 April 2006
22:48
TSLC, LA-7 Yaogan 1 SSO Success
2 Y3 11 November 2007
22:48
TSLC, LA-7 Yaogan 3 SSO Success
3 Y2 27 May 2008
03:02
TSLC, LA-7 Fengyun 3A SSO Success
4 Y4 15 December 2009
02:31
TSLC, LA-9 Yaogan 8
Xiwang 1
SSO Success
5 Y5 5 March 2010
04:55
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 9A
Yaogan 9B
Yaogan 9C
LEO Success
6 Y6 9 August 2010
22:49
TSLC, LA-9 Yaogan 10 SSO Success
7 Y7 4 November 2010
18:37
TSLC, LA-9 Fengyun 3B SSO Success
8 Y10 29 May 2012
07:31
TSLC, LA-9 Yaogan 15 SSO Success
9 Y9 25 November 2012
04:06
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 16A
Yaogan 16B
Yaogan 16C
LEO Success
10 Y11 19 July 2013
23:37
TSLC, LA-9 Shijian 15
Shiyan 7
Chuangxin-3
SSO Success
11 Y13 1 September 2013
19:16
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 17A
Yaogan 17B
Yaogan 17C
LEO Success
12 Y12 23 September 2013
03:07
TSLC, LA-9 Fengyun 3C SSO Success
13 Y14 20 November 2013
03:31
TSLC, LA-9 Yaogan 19 SSO Success
14 Y15 9 August 2014
05:45
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 20A
Yaogan 20B
Yaogan 20C
LEO Success
15 Y16 20 October 2014
06:31
TSLC, LA-9 Yaogan 22 SSO Success
16 Y17 10 December 2014
19:33
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 25A
Yaogan 25B
Yaogan 25C
LEO Success
17 Y18 27 August 2015
02:31
TSLC, LA-9 Yaogan 27 SSO Success
18 Y8 26 November 2015
21:24
TSLC, LA-9 Yaogan 29 SSO Success
19 Y19 9 August 2016
22:55
TSLC, LA-9 Gaofen 3 SSO Success
20 Y22 31 August 2016
18:50
TSLC, LA-9 Gaofen 10 SSO Failure [4]
21 Y21 14 November 2017
18:35
TSLC, LA-9 Fengyun 3D
HEAD-1
SSO Success
22 Y26 31 March 2018
03:22
TSLC, LA-9 Gaofen-1 02
Gaofen-1 03
Gaofen-1 04
SSO Success
23 Y25 10 April 2018
04:25
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 31-01A
Yaogan 31-01B
Yaogan 31-01C
LEO Success
24 Y20 8 May 2018
18:28
TSLC, LA-9 Gaofen 5 SSO Success
25 Y27 20 May 2018
21:28
XSLC, LA-3 Queqiao
Longjiang-1
Longjiang-2
Earth–Moon L2 Success
26 Y23 22 May 2019
22:49
TSLC, LA-9 Yaogan 33 SSO Failure [6]
27 Y33 4 October 2019
18:51
TSLC, LA-9 Gaofen 10(R) SSO Success
28 Y24 27 November 2019
23:52
TSLC, LA-9 Gaofen 12 SSO Success
29 Y35 27 December 2020
15:44
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 33(R) SSO Success
30 Y31 29 January 2021
04:47
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 31-02A
Yaogan 31-02B
Yaogan 31-02C
LEO Success
31 Y32 24 February 2021
02:22
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 31-03A
Yaogan 31-03B
Yaogan 31-03C
LEO Success
32 Y42 13 March 2021
02:19
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 31-04A
Yaogan 31-04B
Yaogan 31-04C
LEO Success
33 Y36 30 March 2021
22:45
JSLC, SLS-2 Gaofen 12-02 SSO Success
34 Y34 30 April 2021
07:27
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 34 LEO Success
35 Y43 4 July 2021
23:28
JSLC, SLS-2 Fengyun 3E SSO Success
36 Y40 7 September 2021
03:01
TSLC, LA-9 Gaofen 5-02 SSO Success
37 Y37 22 November 2021
23:45
JSLC, SLS-2 Gaofen 3-02 SSO Success
38 Y39 26 December 2021
03:11
TSLC, LA-9 Ziyuan I-02E
XW-3 (CAS-9)
SSO Success
39 Y29 25 January 2022
23:44
JSLC, SLS-2 Ludi Tance-1 01A SSO Success
40 Y30 26 February 2022
23:44
JSLC, SLS-2 Ludi Tance-1 01B SSO Success
41 Y47 17 March 2022
07:09
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 34-02 LEO Success
42 Y38 6 April 2022
23:47
JSLC, SLS-2 Gaofen 3-03 SSO Success
43 Y28 15 April 2022
18:16
TSLC, LA-9 Daqi-1 (AEMS) SSO Success
44 Y46 27 June 2022
15:46
JSLC, SLS-2 Gaofen 12-03 SSO Success
45 Y52 2 September 2022
23:44
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 33-02 SSO Success
46 Y48 15 November 2022
01:38
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 34-03 LEO Success
47 Y57 12 December 2022
08:22
JSLC, SLS-2 Shiyan-20A
Shiyan-20B
LEO Success
48 Y51 9 March 2023
22:41
TSLC, LA-9 Tianhui-6A
Tianhui-6B
SSO Success
49 Y49 31 March 2023
06:27
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 34-04 LEO Success
50 Y44 3 August 2023
03:47
JSLC, SLS-2 Fengyun 3F SSO Success
51 Y56 20 August 2023
17:45
JSLC, SLS-2 Gaofen 12-04 SSO Success
52 Y53 6 September 2023
18:14
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 33-03 SSO Success
53 Y54 26 September 2023
20:15
JSLC, SLS-2 Yaogan 33-04 SSO Success
54 Y50 11 May 2024
23:43
JSLC, SLS-2 Shiyan-23 SSO Success
55 Y59 15 October 2024
23:45
JSLC, SLS-2 Gaofen 12-05 SSO Success

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Brian Harvey (2013). China in Space: The Great Leap Forward. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-4614-5043-6.
  2. ^ a b c "CZ-4C (Chang Zheng-4C)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  3. ^ Rui C. Barbosa (15 December 2009). "China completes 2009 schedule by launching another spy satellite". NASASpaceFlight.com.
  4. ^ a b Stephen Chen (2 September 2016). "Chinese rocket launch reported to have failed, destroying cutting-edge earth observation satellite". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  5. ^ Rui C. Barbosa (2 September 2016). "Long March 4C apparently fails during Gaofen 10 launch". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Launch of Yaogan-33 satellite fails in north China". Xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
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