100 Long March 3B launches! [Long March 3B/E Y103]
The 100th Long March 3B has placed the TJSW-13 satellite into orbit!
On December 3rd, the one-hundredth Long March 3B vehicle lifted off from Launch Complex 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 13:56 pm China Standard Time, or 05:56 pm Universal Coordinated Time. The vehicle flew with one satellite onboard toward a geostationary transfer orbit.
The payload onboard for this milestone launch was Communication Technology Experimental Satellite-13 ( 通信技术试验卫星十三号), developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology and the China Academy of Space Technology. Uses for the satellite reportedly include radio, television, data transmission, satellite communications, and some technology testing.
Today’s launch of a Long March 3B/E brings the Long March 3B launch vehicle to its one-hundredth overall launch mission, having flown its first mission 28 years ago in 1996. The Long March 3B is the first individual Long March version to reach one hundred launches, with the 3A series having done so years ago. The 3A series consists of the Long March 3A, 3B, and 3C.
According to China Great Wall Industry Corporation (中国 长城 工业 集团 有限公司), the teams working on the Long March 3B over its almost three decades of service have persistently innovated new technologies on the vehicle to improve its reliability and competitiveness. These innovations are still stated as occurring with each launch, including today's.
Notable payloads delivered by the Long March 3B include the Chang’e 3 and Chang’e 4 lunar landing missions, the BeiDou Satellite Navigation System, Fengyun meteorological satellites, and various Chinasat communications satellites.
The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology spoke with Long Lehao (龙乐豪), Deputy Chief Designer of China’s Lunar Exploration Program and Senior Advisor to the Long March Series Launch Vehicles, for the one-hundredth launch, after the one-hundredth launch with him saying:
“One hundred times, it should be said that this is a milestone, and I hope that the Long March 3B rocket can continue to stabilize its technical status and further improve its reliability”
Jin Zhiqiang (金志强), of the Chief of the Long March 3A series, also spoke on the milestone stating:
“I hope that every subsequent launch will be done well and achieve complete success, reaching the 100th consecutive success of the Long March 3A series of rockets”
If there are any problems with these translations please reach out and correct me.
This was the 100th launch of a Long March 3B vehicle, and the 549th launch of the Long March launch vehicle series. Along with these, this was the 60th launch from China in 2024.
Liftoff video via 航天五线谱, CCTV13 coverage via 卡尔达瓦里希.
Check out the previous Long March 3B/E launch
![Closing in on 100! [Long March 3B/E Y99]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1300,h_650,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F503b1089-bff3-4dad-9a36-aaf6d24edf59_3717x2472.jpeg)
What is the Long March 3B/E?
This section is for those less familiar with China's Long March series of launch vehicles.
The Long March 3B is an older-generation geostationary orbit workhorse of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. The first two stages and four boosters of the rocket burn Dinitrogen Tetroxide and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine, with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the third-stage.
Over the rocket's almost twenty-eight-year launch history, two versions of the vehicle have flown, the 3B and 3B/E. Since 2012 only the 3B/E variant has flown due to its increased payload capacity. The payload capacity of the launch vehicle is currently as follows:
11,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit
7,100 kilograms to a sun-synchronous orbit
5,500 kilograms into a geostationary transfer orbit
2,000 kilograms into geostationary orbit
The first-stage is powered by four YF-21C engines that burn Dinitrogen Tetroxide and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine to generate 302 tons of thurst, while the boosters are powered by one YF-25 engine burning the same fuel to generate 72 tons of thrust each. Combined the four boosters and first stage generate a thrust of 590 tons. The second stage is powered by one YF-22E and four YF-23F vernier engines that also burn Dinitrogen Tetroxide and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine to generate 81 tons of thrust. The third-stage is powered by two YF-75 engines that burn liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to generate 17 tons of thrust.
On the launch pad, the Long March 3B/E is 56.3 meters tall and weighs 458,970 kilograms when fully fuelled. The first and second-stage have a diameter of 3.35 meters, while the third-stage has a diameter of 3 meters, along with the four boosters diameter of 2.25 meters, and the fairing has a diameter of 4.2 meters.
So far every Long March 3B launch has occurred from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in the south of Sichuan province.