Function Carrier rocket Diameter 3.35 metres (11.0 ft) | Manufacturer CALT | |
Country of origin People's Republic of China Height 49.70 metres (163.1 ft) Mass 460,000 kilograms (1,010,000 lb) | ||
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.
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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.
List of Launches
^note Original launch attempt on March 22, 1992 at 10:40 UTC was aborted after engine ignition due to one booster engine igniter shutdown after metal contaminants caused electric arcing. Launch vehicle suffered damage and had to be replaced.