Long March 2E

Long March 2E

Long March 2E
Function	Carrier rocket
Manufacturer	CALT
Country of origin	People's Republic of China
Size
Height	49.70 metres (163.1 ft)[1]
Diameter	3.35 metres (11.0 ft)[1]
Mass	460,000 kilograms (1,000,000 lb)[1]
Stages	3
Capacity
Payload to LEO	9,200 kilograms (20,000 lb)[1]
Payload to GTO	3,370 kilograms (7,400 lb)[1]
Associated rockets
Family	Long March
Derivatives	Long March 2F
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	LC-2, JSLC
Total launches	7
Successes	5
Failures	2
Maiden flight	16 July 1990
Last flight	28 December 1995

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 Satellite Launch Centre, it is a three-stage carrier rocket. The Long March 2E made its maiden flight on 16 July 1990, and was retired on 28 December 1995. It forms the basis of the Long March 2F, used to launch manned Shenzhou missions. The booster rockets have also been reused on the Long March 3B and Long March 3C.

Launches

The Long March 2E made its maiden flight on 16 July 1990 and made 7 launches in total. The first failed launch occurred on 21 December 1992, during the launch of the original Optus B2. Windshear caused the payload fairing to implode 45 seconds into flight. Despite this, the rocket continued on to orbit, and deployed what was left of the upper stage and payload into a low Earth orbit. The second failure occurred on 25 January 1995, during the launch of Apstar 2. Again, windshear led to the collapse of the payload fairing, however on this occasion, the rocket exploded. Debris fell on a nearby village killing a number of residents.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Mark Wade. "CZ-2E" (in English). Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/cz2e.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-02.