Long March 2

Long March 2: a review of its design

The Long March 2 (Chang Zheng-2, or CZ-2) family of space launch vehicles was developed from China’s Dong Feng-5 (DF-5, CSS-4) ICBM introduced in the 1970s. The launch vehicle also formed the basis on which the Long March 3 and 4 families were developed. All three launch vehicle families share the same airframe and engine design, with different upper stages and onboard systems.

Long March 2 Chronology (Part 6): The divine arrow

Despite being unsuccessful as a commercial endeavour, the Long March 2E continued its service life in its man-rated version, the Long March 2F, which has been exclusively used for China’s human spaceflight missions since 1999.

Long March 2 Chronology (Part 5): The remote cousin from Shanghai

The Chinese military began to develop a more advanced recoverable reconnaissance satellite FSW-2 (Jian Bing 1B) in the late 1980s. The new satellite had an increased mass of 2,600 kg, exceeding the maximal payload capacity of the Long March 2C.

Long March 2 Chronology (Part 4): Heavy-lifter to GEO

In October 1985, the Chinese Ministry of Astronautics revealed its ambition to enter the international commercial space market, by offering foreign customers the service to launch their geostationary communications satellites using Long March launch vehicles.

The Long March 2 (Chang Zheng 2, or CZ-2) is the longest-serving space launch vehicle family in China, responsible for sending the country’s first recoverable satellite and the first human spaceflight mission to orbit.