Long March 2F
Stages		2
0 - Boosters	Engines	YF - 20B x 4
Thrust		814 kN X 4 = 3,256 kN
Burn time		128 seconds
Fuels		N2O4 / UDMH
1 - Core Stage	Engines	YF - 20B x 4
Thrust		814 kN X 4 = 3,256 kN
Burn time		166 seconds
Fuels		N2O4 / UDMH
2 - 2nd Stage	Engine	YF - 25/23
Thrust		831 kN
Burn time		300 seconds
Fuels		N2O4 / UDMH
Launch vehicle		1st Launch November 1999
Payload LEO 42 deg		8,400 kg
Payload GTO		3,370 kg

Long March 2 rocket family or Chang Zheng 2 rocket family as in Chinese pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

 is an expendable launch system

Expendable launch system

An expendable launch system is a launch system that uses an expendable launch vehicle to carry a payload into space. The vehicles used in expendable launch systems are designed to be used only once , and their components are not recovered for re-use after launch...

 operated by the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

.

History

Development and design falls mostly under the auspices of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology

China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology

The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology is the premier space launch vehicle manufacturer in China and one of the major launch service providers in the world. CALT is a subordinate of the larger China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation...

. The rockets use the abbreviations LM-2 family for export, and CZ-2 family within China, as "Chang Zheng" means "Long March" in Chinese pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

.

Long March 2 is the base model of the Long March 2 rocket family, derived from Chinese first ICBM DF-5

DF-5

The Dongfeng 5[Wǔ] or DF-5 is a 3 stage Chinese ICBM. It has a length 32.6 m and a diameter of 3.35 m. It weighs in at 183,000 kilograms and it has an estimated range of 12,000 to 15,000 kilometers. The DF-5 had its first flight in 1971 and was in operational service 10 years later...

. The development work began in 1970, the first rocket was launched on November 5, 1974, but the launch failed. The production of the rocket

Rocket

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

 ended in 1979.

Although not officially reported, it is believed that Long March 2A

Long March 2A

The Long March 2A, also known as the Chang Zheng 2A, CZ-2A and LM-2A, was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It was launched from Launch Area 2B at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. It was a 2-stage rocket, and flew just once, on 5 November 1974...

 and Long March 2B were assigned to derivations which targeted to launch the first Chinese static orbit communication sattellite Dong Fang Hong 2 into GTO, with different 3rd stage solutions. The original Long March 2A

Long March 2A

The Long March 2A, also known as the Chang Zheng 2A, CZ-2A and LM-2A, was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It was launched from Launch Area 2B at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. It was a 2-stage rocket, and flew just once, on 5 November 1974...

, which planned to use hypergolic rocket fuels as the third stage, was later renamed to Long March 4. In addition, the original Long March 2B, which used cryogenic fuel

Cryogenic fuel

Cryogenic fuels are fuels that require storage at extremely low temperatures in order to maintain them in a liquid state. Cryogenic fuels most often constitute liquefied gases such as liquid hydrogen....

 as third stage, was later renamed to Long March 3

Long March 3

The Long March 3 , also known as the Chang Zheng 3, CZ-3 and LM-3, was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It was launched from Launch Complex 1 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. It was a 3-stage rocket, and was mostly used to place DFH-2-class communications satellites into geosynchronous...

. Each of them derived into a full rocket family with various configurations, but the core 1st stage and 2nd stage are mostly kept unchanged.

Long March 2C

Long March 2C

Long March 2C , or Chang Zheng 2C as in Chinese pinyin is a member of the Long March 2 rocket family, an expendable launch system operated by the People's Republic of China. This vehicle was developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and the first launch occurred on November 26,...

 and Long March 2D

Long March 2D

The Long March 2D , also known as the Chang Zheng 2D, CZ-2D and LM-2D, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It is a 2-stage carrier rocket mainly used for launching LEO and SSO satellites. It is mainly launched from areas 2B and 2S at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center but can be launched from China's...

's first launches occurred in 1982 and 1990 respectively.

The Long March 2E

Long March 2E

The Long March 2E, also known as the Chang Zheng 2E, CZ-2E and LM-2E, was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. Designed to launch commercial communications satellites, the Long March 2E was retired in favour of the Long March 3B, after two launch failures. Launched from complex 2 at the Xichang...

 was the first one in the Long March rocket

Long March rocket

A Long March rocket or Chang Zheng rocket as in Chinese pinyin is any rocket in a family of expendable launch systems operated by the People's Republic of China. Development and design falls under the auspices of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology...

 family that introduced liquid rocket boosters, to improve its GTO payload capacity to satisfy the domastic and international launch market in the 1990s. It was first launched in 1992.

The development of Long March 2F

Long March 2F

The Long March 2F , also known as the CZ-2F, LM-2F and Shenjian, is a Chinese manned orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March rocket family. Designed to launch manned Shenzhou spacecraft, the Long March 2F is a man-rated two-stage version of the Long March 2E rocket, which in turn was based...

 began in 1992, which is a man-rated version of Long March 2E

Long March 2E

The Long March 2E, also known as the Chang Zheng 2E, CZ-2E and LM-2E, was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. Designed to launch commercial communications satellites, the Long March 2E was retired in favour of the Long March 3B, after two launch failures. Launched from complex 2 at the Xichang...

. Its first launch was in November 1999 (See also Shenzhou 1

Shenzhou 1

Shenzhou 1 launched on November 19, 1999, was the first unmanned launch of the Shenzhou spacecraft. The spacecraft used was not equipped with a life support system or an emergency escape system. After orbiting the Earth 14 times, the command for retrofire was sent by the Yuanwang 3 tracking ship...

). This version is the safest model in the Long March 2 family, with 7 launches and no failure record.

Long March 2D

Long March 2D

The Long March 2D , also known as the Chang Zheng 2D, CZ-2D and LM-2D, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It is a 2-stage carrier rocket mainly used for launching LEO and SSO satellites. It is mainly launched from areas 2B and 2S at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center but can be launched from China's...

 and Long March 4 were developed by the Shanghai Space Agency, while all others are developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology

China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology

The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology is the premier space launch vehicle manufacturer in China and one of the major launch service providers in the world. CALT is a subordinate of the larger China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation...

.

Specifications

Model	Stages	Length (m)	Max. diameter (m)	Liftoff mass (t)	Liftoff thrust (kN)	Payload (LEO, kg)
Long March 2	2	31.170	3.35	190	2786	1800
Long March 2C Long March 2C Long March 2C , or Chang Zheng 2C as in Chinese pinyin is a member of the Long March 2 rocket family, an expendable launch system operated by the People's Republic of China. This vehicle was developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and the first launch occurred on November 26,...	2	35.15	3.35	192	2786	2400
Long March 2D Long March 2D The Long March 2D , also known as the Chang Zheng 2D, CZ-2D and LM-2D, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It is a 2-stage carrier rocket mainly used for launching LEO and SSO satellites. It is mainly launched from areas 2B and 2S at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center but can be launched from China's...	2	33.667 (without shield)	3.35	232	2962	3100
Long March 2E Long March 2E The Long March 2E, also known as the Chang Zheng 2E, CZ-2E and LM-2E, was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. Designed to launch commercial communications satellites, the Long March 2E was retired in favour of the Long March 3B, after two launch failures. Launched from complex 2 at the Xichang...	2 (plus 4 Strap-on boosters)	49.686	7.85	462	5923	9200
Long March 2F Long March 2F The Long March 2F , also known as the CZ-2F, LM-2F and Shenjian, is a Chinese manned orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March rocket family. Designed to launch manned Shenzhou spacecraft, the Long March 2F is a man-rated two-stage version of the Long March 2E rocket, which in turn was based...	2 (plus 4 Strap-on boosters)	62	7.85	464	6512	8400