
On the 23th November 2023 in CNSA _China National Space Administration -China – People’s Republic of China 1800 hours Hong Kong –Beijing Time China- People’s Republic of China launch the Chang Zheng – Long march 2D Carrier Rocket launching from station form Xichang Satellite Launch Center Sichuan Province….. in which中国 successfully launched the At 18:00 on November 23, 2023, the “Long March 2D” Yao 59/”Yuanzheng 3″ Yao 2 upper stage carrier rocket carrying CX-20 and other satellite Internet technology test satellites was ignited and lifted off from the Xichang launch site , successfully sent the satellite directly into orbit.

In which Yuanzheng-3 returned to the world after 5 years and transformed into the Long March-2D third-stage rocket to directly send stars into orbit.

The satellite Internet technology test satellite CX-20 was developed by the Microsatellite Innovation Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Shanghai Microsatellite Engineering Center), and other satellites were developed by the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.





“Long March 2D” is a medium-sized two-stage room-temperature liquid launch vehicle developed by the Eighth Institute of Aerospace Science and Technology. The primary and secondary main power uses dinitrogen tetroxide/uniform dimethylhydrazine propellant. The arrow is 41 meters long, with a diameter of 3.35 meters for both the first and second levels, a take-off mass of 250 tons, a take-off thrust of 302 tons, a low-Earth orbit (LEO) transport capacity of 4.0 tons, a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) transport capacity of 1.5 tons, and 700 The SSO transport capacity per kilometer is 1.3 tons. This rocket uses an extended fairing with a diameter of 4 meters, which is the first time it is used at the Xichang launch site. The rocket launch site process was shortened from 43 days to 29 days. Since its successful first flight, the “Chang Erding” rocket has achieved 84 consecutive victories, continuing to set a record of consecutive victories for a single-type launch vehicle in my country. This year, the “Chang Er Ding” rocket has carried out 12 launch missions.
The upper stage of the “Yuanzheng-3” was developed by the Eighth Institute of Aerospace Science and Technology. It has independent orbital maneuverability and can fly in orbit for up to 48 hours. It is equipped with a squeeze engine with a thrust of 5,000 N and can fire more than 20 times. , can independently plan the optimal flight path based on the orbital state when separated from the rocket, and perform off-orbit multi-satellite deployment in medium and low orbits and constellation network repair deployment. At the same time, the “Yuanzheng-3” upper stage adopts a modular and standardized design, which can be adapted to be used with a variety of launch vehicles, which can greatly improve our country’s capabilities in rapid and flexible space access, space transfer and space utilization.
This mission is the first time that the “Yuanzheng-3” upper stage has made its first mission in five years since its successful first flight. It is also the first time it has performed a mission at the Xichang launch site. In order to further improve the carrying capacity, the “Yuanzheng-3” upper stage and the “Long March-2D” rocket of this mission have adopted a joint flight state for the first time, and the “Yuanzheng-3” has become the third stage of the three-stage rocket. The separation point of this secondary rocket is suborbital. Three seconds after separation, the “Yuanzheng-3” ignited into orbit, and then ignited again to reach the predetermined orbit. After sending the satellite into orbit, the “Yuanzheng-3” actively controlled deorbiting through two ignitions. .

This launch is the 12th launch of the “Long March 2D” rocket in 2023, the 13th launch of the Xichang Launch Site, the 54th launch of China, and the 189th launch of the world. At the same time, this launch is also the 498th launch of the “Long March” series of launch vehicles.
Images and visuals are from their Respectives CMS China Manned Space CNSA-China National Space Administration