Long March 2D version
Long March 2D CZ-2D/YZ-3
Long March 2D configuration with the optional Yuanzheng-3 (YZ-3) upper stage, a 6.5 kN YF-50D engine with a specific impulse of 315.5 s burning the same hypergolic mix as the rest of the rocket. The added stage turns the two-stage 2D into a three-stage vehicle and allows several payloads to be dropped into different orbits. It flew four times between 29 December 2018 and 12 December 2024, all successful.
- December 29, 2018
- First launch
- No
- Reusable
History
A stage to spread payloads
The Yuanzheng-3 belongs to the family of "expedition" upper stages the Chinese industry developed to place each satellite in its own orbit rather than leaving the payload on a shared trajectory. Fitted to the Long March 2D it is an optional stage: the rocket keeps its 41.056 m and its 232,250 kg liftoff mass, and the parent sheet describes the two-stage configuration.
The four flights
The debut came on 29 December 2018 from Jiuquan, with six Yunhai-2 weather satellites and Hongyan-1 in low Earth orbit. On 23 November 2023, from Xichang, it placed three test satellites of the Hulianwang internet network. On 21 March 2024 it repeated the first flight's formula with another six Yunhai-2 units. The fourth and so far last, on 12 December 2024, carried five satellites of the high-speed laser diamond constellation experimental system.