Long March 2C


The Long March 2C, also known as the Chang Zheng 2C, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March 2 rocket family. Developed and manufactured by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the Long March 2C made its first launch on 9 September 1982. It is a two-stage launch vehicle with storable propellants, consisting of Nitrogen Tetroxide and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine. The rocket was derived from the DF-5 ICBM.
Several variants of this launch vehicle have been built, all using an optional third solid motor stage:
Note that according to the website Gunter's Space Page, in addition to the launches listed in the following table, there may have been six additional CZ-2C launches during 2014 and 2015. These possible launches apparently were conducted at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on the following dates: 9 January 2014, 7 August 2014, 2 December 2014, 7 June 2015, 20 August 2015, and 23 November 2015; five of these six launches were apparently successful, while the launch on 7 August 2014 appears to have failed. However, due to the lack of additional sources for these six launches, they are not currently included in the following launch list.
Aerodynamic grid fins were added on the Long March 2C in 2019 to help guide falling stages away from populated areas. China is studying using reusable rocket technology in the future.

List of launches

Flight numberDate Launch siteUpper stage PayloadOrbitResult
19 September 1982
07:19		LA-2/138, JSLCFSW-0 No.4LEO
219 August 1983
06:00		LA-2/138, JSLCFSW-0 No.5LEO
312 September 1984
05:44		LA-2/138, JSLCFSW-0 No.6LEO
421 October 1985
05:04		LA-2/138, JSLCFSW-0 No.7LEO
56 October 1986
05:40		LA-2/138, JSLCFSW-0 No.8LEO
65 August 1987
06:39		LA-2/138, JSLCFSW-0 No.9LEO
79 September 1987
07:15		LA-2/138, JSLCFSW-1 No.1LEO
85 August 1988
07:29		LA-2/138, JSLCFSW-1 No.2LEO
95 October 1990
06:14		LA-2/138, JSLCFSW-1 No.3LEO
106 October 1992
06:20		LA-2/138, JSLCFSW-1 No.4
Freja		LEO
118 October 1993
08:00		LA-2/138, JSLCFSW-1 No.5LEO
121 September 1997
14:00		LA-7, TSLC2C/SDIridium mass simulator A
Iridium mass simulator B		LEO
138 December 1997
07:16		LA-7, TSLC2C/SDIridium 42
Iridium 44		LEO
1425 March 1998
17:01		LA-7, TSLC2C/SDIridium 51
Iridium 61		LEO
152 May 1998
09:16		LA-7, TSLC2C/SDIridium 69
Iridium 71		LEO
1619 August 1998
23:01		LA-7, TSLC2C/SDIridium 76
Iridium 78		LEO
1719 December 1998
11:39		LA-7, TSLC2C/SDIridium 88
Iridium 89		LEO
1811 June 1999
17:15		LA-7, TSLC2C/SDIridium 92
Iridium 93		LEO
1929 December 2003
19:06		LA-3, XSLC2C/SMDouble Star 1HEO
2018 April 2004
15:59		LA-3, XSLCShiyan-1
Nano Satellite 1		SSO
2125 July 2004
07:05		LA-7, TSLC2C/SMDouble Star 2HEO
2229 August 2004
07:50		LA-4/SLS-2, JSLCFSW-4 No.1LEO
2318 November 2004
10:45		LA-3, XSLCShiyan-2SSO
242 August 2005
07:30		LA-4/SLS-2, JSLCFSW-4 No.2LEO
259 September 2006
07:00		LA-4/SLS-2, JSLCShijian 8LEO
2611 April 2007
03:27		LA-7, TSLCHaiYang-1BSSO
276 September 2008
03:25		LA-7, TSLC2C/SMAHuanjing-1A
Huanjing-1B		SSO
2822 April 2009
02:55		LA-7, TSLCYaogan 6SSO
2912 November 2009
02:45		LA-4/SLS-2, JSLCShijian 11-01SSO
306 July 2011
04:28		LA-4/SLS-2, JSLCShijian 11-03SSO
3129 July 2011
07:42		LA-4/SLS-2, JSLCShijian 11-02SSO
3218 August 2011
09:28		LA-4/SLS-2, JSLCShijian 11-04SSO
3329 November 2011
18:50		LA-9, TSLCYaogan 13SSO
346 October 2012
03:25		LA-9, TSLC2C/SMAShijian 9A
Shijian 9B		SSO
3518 November 2012
22:53		LA-9, TSLCHuanjing-1C
Xinyan 1
Fengniao 1		SSO
3615 July 2013
09:27		LA-4/SLS-2, JSLCShijian 11-05SSO
3729 October 2013
02:50		LA-9, TSLCYaogan 18SSO
3831 March 2014
02:46		LA-4/SLS-2, JSLCShijian 11-06SSO
3928 September 2014
05:13		LA-4/SLS-2, JSLCShijian 11-07SSO
4027 October 2014
06:59		LA-4/SLS-2, JSLCShijian 11-08SSO
4114 November 2014
18:53		LA-9, TSLCYaogan 23SSO
4229 September 2017
04:21		LA-3, XSLCYaogan 30-01 A/B/CLEO
4324 November 2017
18:10		LA-3, XSLCYaogan 30-02 A/B/CLEO
4425 December 2017
19:44		LA-3, XSLCYaogan 30-03 A/B/CLEO
4525 January 2018
05:39		LA-3, XSLCYaogan 30-04 A/B/CLEO
4627 June 2018
03:30		LC-3, XSLCXJSS A/BLEO
479 July 2018
03:56		LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC2C/SMAPRSS-1
PakTES-1A		SSO
487 September 2018
03:15		LA-9, TSLCHaiYang-1CSSO
499 October 2018
02:43		LA-4/SLS-2, JSLC2C/YZ-1SYaogan 32A, 32BLEO
5029 October 2018
00:43		LA-4/SLS-2, JSLCCFOSATSSO
5126 July 2019
03:57		LA-3, XSLCYaogan 30-05 A/B/CLEO
5224 March 2020
03:43		LA-3, XSLCYaogan 30-06 A/B/CLEO
5310 June 2020
18:31		TSLC, LA-9HaiYang 1DSSO

Launch failures

Shijian 11-04 launch failure

On 18 August 2011, a Long March 2C rocket failed during the launch of the Shijian 11-04 satellite. During the powered flight phase of the second stage, the connecting mechanism between vernier engine no.3 and the servo-control mechanism of the second stage failed, which led to the loss of attitude control on the second stage.