Long March 2F/G version
Long March 2F/G CZ-2F
The original CZ-2F is the configuration with which China opened its human spaceflight programme: seven flights between 19 November 1999 and 25 September 2008, from Shenzhou 1 to Shenzhou 7. Derived from the Long March 2E, it added redundant systems, an escape tower and an advanced fault detection system to let the crew escape in an emergency; it was also the first Chinese rocket assembled and rolled out to the pad vertically.
- November 19, 1999
- First launch
- No
- Reusable
History
The seven flights of the first version
The initial CZ-2F flew for the first time on 19 November 1999 with the uncrewed Shenzhou 1. Three further test flights followed — Shenzhou 2 in January 2001, Shenzhou 3 in March 2002 and Shenzhou 4 in December 2002 — the second of them carrying live animals. After the Shenzhou 3 flight, President Jiang Zemin named the rocket Shenjian, divine arrow.
On 15 October 2003 this same configuration launched Shenzhou 5 with Yang Liwei aboard: China's first human spaceflight. Shenzhou 6 followed in October 2005 with two crew, and Shenzhou 7 on 25 September 2008, the first with three people and the first to include a spacewalk. That was the last flight of the original version.
Vibration and fixes
During the Shenzhou 5 ascent Yang Liwei suffered discomfort from heavy vibration. Later modifications reduced the problem, but it returned on Shenzhou 6 and forced further design changes. According to CZ-2F chief designer Jing Muchun, the engine plumbing was adjusted to shift its frequency and the pressure accumulator was redesigned, cutting vibration by more than half. The trouble ran in the family: the Long March 2E, from which the 2F derives, had lost two satellites to fairing collapse caused by excessive vibration.
Handover
The upgraded versions were approved in 2004. From 2011 the original CZ-2F was replaced by the 2F/G for crewed missions and by the 2F/T for uncrewed ones.