, stages = {{plainlist, * CZ-7: Two * CZ-7A: Three {{cite web, url=https://www.space.com/china-space-program-new-long-march-rockets.html, last=Jones, first=Andrew, title=China prepares to launch new rockets as part of push to boost space program, publisher=SPACE.com, date=14 February 2020, access-date=14 February 2020 , capacities = {{Infobox rocket/payload , location = LEO (200 x 400 km x 42°) , kilos = {{cvt, 13500, kg {{Infobox rocket/payload , location = GTO , kilos = {{cvt, 7000, kg {{Infobox rocket/payload , location = TLI , kilos = {{cvt, 5000, kg {{Infobox rocket/payload , location = SSO , altitude = {{cvt, 700, km , kilos = {{cvt, 5500, kg , family =

Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Army of the Chinese ...

, derivatives = , comparable =

Delta IV Delta IV is a group of five expendable launch systems in the Delta rocket family introduced in the early 2000s. Originally designed by Boeing's Defense, Space and Security division for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, t ...

Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas launch vehicle family. It was originally designed by Lockheed Martin, now being operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Mart ...

Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon 9 Block 5 is a partially reusable two-stage-to-orbit medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. It is the fifth version of Falcon 9 Full Thrust, powered by SpaceX Merlin engines burning rocket- ...

, GSLV Mk.III,

H-IIA H-IIA (H-2A) is an active expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. These liquid fuel rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit; lunar o ...

, status = Active , sites =

Wenchang Wenchang ( postal: Mencheong; ) is a county-level city in the northeast of Hainan province, China. Although called a "city", Wenchang refers to a large land area in Hainan - an area which was once a county. The urban center and the seat of gove ...

, LC-2 , launches = 10 (7:6, 7A:4) , success = 9 (7:6, 7A:3) , fail = 1 (7:0, 7A:1) , partial = , other_outcome = , first = * Long March 7: 25 June 2016 * Long March 7A: 16 march 2020 , last = * Long March 7: 12 November 2022 * Long March 7A: 13 September 2022
(Both Active) , stagedata = {{Infobox rocket/stage , type = booster , diff = , name = K2 booster , number = 4 , length = {{cvt, 27, m , diameter = {{cvt, 2.25, m , empty = , gross = , propmass = , engines = 1

YF-100 The YF-100 is a Chinese liquid rocket engine burning LOX and kerosene in an oxidizer-rich staged combustion cycle. Development of the engine began in the 2000s, along with its sibling, the smaller YF-115, which would power the LM-6 and LM-7 ...

, thrust = SL: {{cvt, 1200, kN
Vac: {{cvt, 1340, kN , total = SL: {{cvt, 4800, kN
Vac: {{cvt, 5360, kN , SI = SL: {{cvt, 300, isp
Vac: {{cvt, 335, isp , burntime = , fuel =

RP-1 RP-1 (alternatively, Rocket Propellant-1 or Refined Petroleum-1) is a highly refined form of kerosene outwardly similar to jet fuel, used as rocket fuel. RP-1 provides a lower specific impulse than liquid hydrogen (LH2), but is cheaper, is s ...

LOX Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is the liquid form of molecular oxygen. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an appli ...

{{Infobox rocket/stage , type = Stage , diff = , stageno = First , name = K3 core module , length = , diameter = {{cvt, 3.35, m , empty = , gross = , propmass = , engines = 2

, thrust = Sea level: {{cvt, 2400, kN
Vacuum: {{cvt, 2680, kN , total = , SI = Sea level: {{cvt, 300, isp
Vacuum: {{cvt, 335, isp , burntime = , fuel =

{{Infobox rocket/stage , type = Stage , diff = , stageno = Second , name = , length = , diameter = {{cvt, 3.35, m , empty = , gross = , propmass = , engines = 4

YF-115 The YF-115 is a Chinese liquid rocket engine burning LOX and kerosene in an oxidizer-rich staged combustion cycle. A high efficiency/high thrust environmental friendly rocket engine was always an objective within Programme 863. Development bega ...

, thrust = {{cvt, 706, kN , total = , SI = {{cvt, 342, isp , burntime = , fuel =

{{Infobox rocket/stage , type = Stage , diff = CZ-7A , stageno = Third , length = , diameter = {{cvt, 3.0, m , empty = {{cvt, 2800, kg , gross = {{cvt, 21000, kg , propmass = {{cvt, 18200, kg , engines = 2 ×

YF-75 The YF-75 is a liquid cryogenic rocket engine burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in a gas generator cycle. It is China's second generation of cryogenic propellant engine, after the YF-73, which it replaced. It is used in a dual engin ...

, thrust = {{cvt, 167.17, kN , SI = {{cvt, 4295, m/s, isp , burntime = 478 seconds , fuel = {{LH2 /

The Long March 7 ({{zh, c=长征七号运载火箭), or Chang Zheng 7 in

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...

, abbreviated LM-7 for export or CZ-7 within China, originally Long March 2F/H or Chang Zheng 2F/H, nicknamed Bingjian ({{zh, c=冰箭, l=the Ice Arrow, labels=no), is a Chinese liquid-fuelled

launch vehicle A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload ( spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pads, supported by a launch control center and ...

of the Long March family, developed by the

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, or CASC, is the main contractor for the Chinese space program. It is state-owned and has subsidiaries which design, develop and manufacture a range of spacecraft, launch vehicles, strategi ...

(CAST). It made its inaugural flight on 25 June 2016. Designed as a replacement of the

Long March 2F The Long March 2F ( ''Changzheng 2F''), also known as the CZ-2F, LM-2F and Shenjian (, "Divine Arrow"), is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March 2 rocket family. Designed to launch crewed Shenzhou spacecraft, the Long Mar ...

, Long March 7 and its variants are expected to be the workhorse of the fleet, eventually accounting for around 70% of all Chinese launches. Long March 7 will also play a critical role in the Chinese Space Station. It was used to launch the Tianzhou robotic cargo spacecraft, and will eventually replace the Long March 2F as China's crew-rated launch vehicle. Since 2020, in addition to the base Long March 7 configuration, there is the Long March 7A (CZ-7A etc.) variant which differs from the base CZ-7 by the addition of a

liquid hydrogen Liquid hydrogen (LH2 or LH2) is the liquid state of the element hydrogen. Hydrogen is found naturally in the molecular H2 form. To exist as a liquid, H2 must be cooled below its critical point of 33 K. However, for it to be in a fully l ...

liquid oxygen Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is the liquid form of molecular oxygen. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an app ...

third stage inherited from the third stage of the

Long March 3B The Long March 3B (, ''Chang Zheng 3B''), also known as the CZ-3B and LM-3B, is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle. Introduced in 1996, it is launched from Launch Area 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan. A three-stage rock ...

Launch Statistics

{{Graph:Chart, width=850, height=300, xAxisTitle=Year, yAxisTitle=Launches, legend=Outcome, type=stackedrect, x=2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021,2022, y1=0,0,0,0,0,0,0 , y2=1,1,0,0,0,4,3 , y3=0,0,0,0,1,0,0 , y4=0,0,0,0,0,0,0 , y1Title=Planned, y2Title=Success, y3Title=Failure, y4Title=Partial Failure, colors=LightBlue, DarkGreen, FireBrick, Orange

History

The Long March 7 project started in 2008 with the formation of the development team within the traditional designer of space launch vehicles, CALT. With the acquisition of the

RD-120 The RD-120 (GRAU Index 11D123) is a liquid upper stage rocket engine burning RG-1 (refined kerosene) and LOX in an oxidizer rich staged combustion cycle with an O/F ratio of 2.6. It is used in the second stage of the Zenit family of launch ve ...

technology and development of the

and

engines, the original plan was to re-engine the

. The Long March 2F/H, as it would have been called, would "just" switch from N₂O₄ /

UDMH Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH; 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, НДМГ or codenamed Geptil) is a chemical compound with the formula H2NN(CH3)2 that is used as a rocket propellant. It is a colorless liquid, with a sharp, fishy, ammonia-like smell ...

to a

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

propellant and improved thrust engines to offer better performance. But the switch resulted in a cascade of changes that increased the project complexity significantly. At the same time, the original

Long March 5 Long March 5 (LM-5; zh, s=长征五号 , p=Chángzhēng wǔ hào), or Changzheng 5 (CZ-5), and also by its nickname "''Pang-Wu''" (胖五, "''Fat-Five''"), is a Chinese heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehic ...

project was expected to include heavy, medium and light versions. Since the Long March 2F/H and the medium Long March 5 had significant overlaps, it was decided to merge both projects. This way, the high reliability and flight legacy components and technologies of the Long March 2F were merged with the new technologies developed for the Long March 5. Although finished nearly at the same time, the Long March 6 was a completely separate product developed by a young team within

SAST South African Standard Time (SAST) is the time zone used by all of South Africa as well as Eswatini and Lesotho. The zone is two hours ahead of UTC ( UTC+02:00) and is the same as Central Africa Time. Daylight saving time is not observed in e ...

. As such, it shares little more than tank diameters and propulsion with the LM-5 and LM7, but does cover the range of payloads between the medium Long March 7 and the very light

Long March 11 The Long March 11 (), or Chang Zheng 11 as in pinyin, abbreviated LM-11 for export or CZ-11 within China (and designated 11H when launched from sea), is a Chinese four stage solid-propellant carrier rocket of the Long March family, which is ...

. In 2010, the project name was changed officially to Long March 7. According to the project deputy manager, Zhang Tao, the project required eleven new major technologies. But the innovation was not only at the product level, but one at the process itself. This was, according to the project manager, Wang Xiaojun, the first time the whole process was developed in digital 3D, using computer-aided design directly to

computer-aided manufacturing Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) also known as computer-aided modeling or computer-aided machining is the use of software to control machine tools in the manufacturing of work pieces. This is not the only definition for CAM, but it is the most ...

. The inaugural flight was successfully performed on 25 June 2016, at 12:00 UTC from the

, LC-2 launch pad. It launched in the LM-7 configuration with the addition of the simultaneously debuting

Yuanzheng-1A Yuanzheng () is a restartable upper stage developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) for the Long March rocket family. The Yuanzheng stage enables the Chinese launch vehicles to deploy payloads directly to high-energy ...

upper stage; the flight performed its multi-orbit mission successfully. File:CZ-7.svg, Long March 7 graphic File:Maquette Longue Marche 7 DSC 0004.jpg, Long March 7 "Bingjian" model, 2015 Paris Air Show

Design

The Long March 7 is the medium-lift variant of a new generation rocket family that includes the heavier-lift

and the small-mid cargo

Long March 6 The Long March 6 () or Chang Zheng 6 as in pinyin, abbreviated LM 6 for export or CZ 6 within China, is a Chinese liquid-fuelled launch vehicle of the Long March family, which was developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corpor ...

. The structure is based on the reliable, man-rated

launch vehicle. It inherited the 3.35 m-diameter core stage and 2.25 m-diameter liquid rocket boosters. Where the earlier

Long March 2 Long March 2 rocket family or Chang Zheng 2 rocket family as in Chinese pinyin is an expendable launch system operated by the People's Republic of China. The rockets use the abbreviations LM-2 family for export, and CZ-2 family within Chi ...

rocket family used expensive and dangerous {{N2O4 /

propellants, the Long March 7 uses

and

. The engines are shared with the Long March 5 and 6. The goal was to build a more cost-effective and less hazardous rocket family to replace today's Long March 2 and eventually the Long March 3. It is capable of placing a {{cvt, 5500, kg payload into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) of {{cvt, 700, km.

Stages

The Long March 7 inherits the modular stages of the original

project. As such, its first stage is the same module as the LM-5 boosters. It also shares tank diameters and engines with the

, but the design groups were completely different. The LM-5 and LM-7 were developed by

China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) is a major state-owned civilian and military space launch vehicle manufacturer in China and one of the major launch service providers in the world. CALT is a subsidiary of the larger China A ...

(CALT), while the LM-6 was done by

Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) is a Chinese space agency and subordinate of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, or CASC, is the main contractor for ...

(SAST). Even the avionics are different. The basic Long March 7 can be optimized by varying the number of boosters or enhanced by the addition of upper stages. These stages allow more mission flexibility, like direct injection to higher orbits or multiple orbit deployment. They can also increase the performance significantly. Thanks to this modularity, performance can be dialed between {{cvt, 4000, kg and {{cvt, 13500, kg for LEO, {{cvt, 2000, kg and {{cvt, 8000, kg for SSO and {{cvt, 4000, kg and {{cvt, 7000, kg to Geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).

Boosters

The Long March 7 can use 0, 2 or 4 boosters using

propellant. They are powered by a single oxidizer-rich staged combustion

engine. Each boosters supplies {{cvt, 1200, kN at sea level and {{cvt, 1340, kN in vacuum of thrust. Its

specific impulse Specific impulse (usually abbreviated ) is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine (a rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel) creates thrust. For engines whose reaction mass is only the fuel they carry, specific impulse is ...

is {{cvt, 300, isp at sea level and {{cvt, 335, isp in vacuum. Each module has its own single axis

thrust vector control Thrust vectoring, also known as thrust vector control (TVC), is the ability of an aircraft, rocket, or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine(s) or motor(s) to control the attitude or angular velocity of the ve ...

, and thus it required a special design in the control systems of the rocket to coordinate all the rocket's nozzles. They use the legacy {{cvt, 2.25, m width of the

and

Long March 3 The Long March 3 (), also known as the Changzheng 3, CZ-3 and LM-3, was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket design. They were all launched from Launch Area 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. It was a three-stage rocket, and was mostly used ...

families, but due to the increased thrust of the

with respect to the

YF-20 The YF-20 is a Chinese liquid-fuel rocket engine burning N2O4 and UDMH in a gas generator cycle. It is a basic engine which when mounted in a four engine module forms the YF-21. The high altitude variation is known as the YF-22 is normally pai ...

and YF-25, the boosters are almost twice as long, at {{cvt, 27, m. A Long March 7 rocket booster created a fireball visible from portions of

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

and California on the evening of 27 July 2016; its disintegration was widely reported on social media, and the uncontrolled re-entry of such a five-ton object was regarded as a rare event.{{cite web , url=http://www.space.com/33581-amazing-fireball-from-chinese-rocket-space-junk-video.html, title=Amazing Fireball Over Western US Caused by Chinese Space Junk, publisher=SPACE.com, date=2016-07-28, access-date=2016-07-28, author=Mike, Wall

First stage

The first stage has {{cvt, 3.35, m diameter tanks carrying RP-1/LOX propellant. It is powered by two YF-100 engines, sharing the same propulsion elements as the boosters, only that for the first stage the engines can gimbal in two axes. Also, this first stage is the same basic module as the

boosters. The diameter was designed for land transport and as such, it will be able to launch from all the Chinese launch sites. This is a critical difference to the LM-5 that requires water transport for its core stages. While it shares diameter and engines with the

first stage, the development was completely separated and done by different groups.

Second stage

The second stage also shares the first {{cvt, 3.35, m diameter tanks and propellant. It is powered by four oxidizer-rich staged combustion RP-1/LOX

engines. Two are fixed and two can gimbal in two axis. It offers {{cvt, 706, kN of thrust in vacuum with a specific impulse of {{cvt, 341.5, isp. While it shares engines with the Long March 6 second stage, the development were completely separated and done by different groups.

Optional stages

Yuanzheng-1A

It can use the

upper stage to increase payload to higher energy orbits and enable multiple ignition missions. Particularly, allows direct injection to SSO orbits. The inaugural flight successfully used this upper stage to deliver multiple payloads to different orbits.

Hydrogen stage

The Long March 7 is expected to be enhanced by a high-energy liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen stage. This stage and the low inclination of Wenchang would enable to launch payload between {{cvt, 4000, kg and {{cvt, 7000, kg to Geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) orbit. That would be a 25% increase with respect to the previously most powerful Chinese launcher, the

, but well below the

. The Long March 7A variant, active since March 2020, accomplishes just this enhancement; it is made of the initial two stages of Long March 7, with a third stage powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. In the 2013 presentation of variations, a hydrogen-powered stage was also used as a second stage. It was not clear if it would be the same stage used as the second stage or a different stage. In both cases (second and third stage) they would be powered by the

or the YF-75D.

Solid boosters

The 2013 presentation of the variation also proposed smaller {{cvt, 2, m diameter solid boosters as a cheaper option for smaller payloads.

Avionics

After the inaugural flight, Song Zhengyu, Deputy Chief Control Systems Designer for the Long March 7 project, stated that the flight had proven indigenous avionics. They had to work with the local industry to develop Radiation hardening, space rated Multi-core processor, dual processor Programmable logic controller, PLCs. It was also stated that the real-time operating system was also an indigenous development. The general design was based on a Distributed computing, distributed architecture to enable scalability and fault tolerance. This avionics would be the base for most future developments and had been designed with Reusable launch system, reusability in mind.

2013 proposed variations

In a paper published on the ''Manned Spaceflight'' publication of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, CMSEO, the Long March 7 was presented as a family of launch vehicles. The variations would be codified by a two number plus variable letters code, and a CZ-7 prefix in the form CZ-7##. The first digit would mean the number of stages in the core, which could be either 2 or 3. The second number would mean the number of boosters, which could be 0, 2 or 4, with an S appended if the boosters were of solid type. There was also proposed an alternative second stage powered by the liquid hydrogen, LH/liquid oxygen, LOX propellant and dual

engines would be identified by appending an (HO) to the designation. At last, it could have an additional upper stage, later identified as the

, that would be identified by appending to the designation /SM. For example, the version that debuted was codified under this nomenclature as the ''CZ-724/SM'', since it had two

core stages, four liquid boosters and was enhanced by the Yuanzheng-1A stage. A ''CZ-720'' would have two RP-1/LOX stages and no boosters. A ''CZ-724S(HO)'' would have a RP-1/LOX first stage, a LH/LOX second stage and four solid boosters. A ''CZ-732'' would have two RP-1/LOX stages, a LH/LOX third stage, and two liquid boosters. The paper expected the following performance from certain versions. {, class="wikitable sortable" , - style="background:#ffdead;" ! Version ! LEO ! SSO ! GTO , - , CZ-720 , 2000 kg , – , , - , CZ-722 , 7500 kg , 1300 kg , , - , CZ-724 , 13500 kg , 5500 kg , , - , CZ-720/SM , , 1000 kg , , - , CZ-722/SM , , 4500 kg , , - , CZ-724/SM , , 8500 kg , , - , CZ-722S/SM , , 1800 kg , , - , CZ-724S/SM , , 3900 kg , , - , CZ-730 , , , 1200 kg , - , CZ-732 , , , 4500 kg , - , CZ-734 , , , 7000 kg , - , CZ-720(HO) , 5500 kg , 2900 kg , 1500 kg , - , CZ-722S(HO) , 7500 kg , 4400 kg , 2400 kg , - The paper also presented the propulsion options for each stage. The

second stage had only two

instead of the normal four, when used in the version with no boosters. It might have implied a different smaller upper stage or an under filled one. {, class="wikitable sortable" , - style="background:#ffdead;" ! Version ! Boosters ! 1st Stage ! 2nd Stage ! 3rd Stage ! Maneuver Stage , - , CZ-720 , 0 ,

× 2 ,

× 2 , / , / , - , CZ-722 , 2.25 m liquid × 2 , YF-100 × 2 , YF-115 × 4 , / , / , - , CZ-724 , 2.25 m liquid × 4 , YF-100 × 2 , YF-115 × 4 , / , / , - , CZ-720/SM , 0 , YF-100 × 2 , YF-115 × 2 , / , YF-50 × 1 , - , CZ-722/SM , 2.25 m liquid × 2 , YF-100 × 2 , YF-115 × 4 , / , YF-50 × 1 , - , CZ-724/SM , 2.25 m liquid × 4 , YF-100 × 2 , YF-115 × 4 , / , YF-50 × 1 , - , CZ-722S/SM , 2 m solid × 2 , YF-100 × 2 , YF-115 × 4 , / , YF-50 × 1 , - , CZ-724S/SM , 2 m solid × 4 , YF-100 × 2 , YF-115 × 4 , / , YF-50 × 1 , - , CZ-720(HO) , 0 , YF-100 × 2 ,

× 2 , / , / , - , CZ-722(HO) , 2.25 m liquid × 2 , YF-100 × 2 , YF-75 × 2 , / , / , - , CZ-724(HO) , 2.25 m liquid × 4 , YF-100 × 2 , YF-75 × 2 , / , / , - , CZ-722S(HO) , 2 m solid × 2 , YF-100 × 2 , YF-75 × 2 , / , / , - , CZ-724S(HO) , 2 m solid × 4 , YF-100 × 2 , YF-75 × 2 , / , / , - , CZ-730 , 0 , YF-100 × 2 , YF-115 × 2 , YF-75 × 2 , / , - , CZ-732 , 2.25 m liquid × 2 , YF-100 × 2 , YF-115 × 4 , YF-75 × 2 , / , - , CZ-734 , 2.25 m liquid × 4 , YF-100 × 2 , YF-115 × 4 , YF-75 × 2 , / , -

CZ-7A variant

Since 2020, the base two-stage CZ-7 configuration has been supplemented by the CZ-7A variant. This variant employs the boosters and the first two stages of the base configuration, and add to this a third stage that employs two cryogenic

engines operating on {{LH2 and

liquid fuels; the third stage of the 7A variant is inherited from the third stage of the

. (Note that the 7A variant is similar to the CZ-73X variants first proposed in 2013; see previous subsection). The maiden CZ-7A was launched on 16 March 2020 at 13:34 UTC from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan island. Two hours after launch, state news sources announced that the flight ended in failure; no causes for the failure were indicated initially. Launch preparations for the maiden flight continued in the weeks prior to launch despite measures taken to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus in China.{{cite web , url=https://spacenews.com/launch-of-chinas-new-long-march-7a-ends-in-failure/, last=Jones, first=Andrew, title=Launch of China's new Long March 7A ends in failure, publisher=SpaceNews, date=16 March 2020, access-date=16 March 2020 In 2021, some observers speculated, based on unconfirmed Chinese Baidu posts, that the failure of the CZ-7A's maiden flight was caused by the loss of pressurization in one of its four boosters just prior to ''main engine cutoff'' and the ''Multistage rocket, staging'' of the first stage (about 168 seconds into the flight). The second CZ-7A launched successfully from Wenchang on 11 March 2021.{{cite web, date=March 2021, first=Hanneke , last=Weitering, title=China's Long March 7A rocket launches on 1st successful flight, url=https://www.space.com/china-long-march-7a-rocket-first-launch-success, access-date=2021-03-13, publisher=SPACE.com The launch vehicle carried the Shiyan (satellite), Shiyan-9 satellite to test new technologies such as space environmental monitoring, according to the

(CASC).{{cite web, author=Jessie Yeung, title=China successfully launches Long March 7A rocket after failed first attempt, url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/12/asia/china-long-march-7a-launch-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html, publisher=CNN, access-date=2021-03-13

List of launches

{{main, List of Long March launches {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" !, Flight number !, Date ( UTC) !, Variant !, Launch site !, Upper stage !, Payload !, Orbit !, Result !, Notes !, References , - , , Y1 , , 25 June 2016
12:00 , , 7 , , Wenchang Space Launch Site, Wenchang, LC-2 , , Yuanzheng-1, YZ-1A , , * Next-Generation Crew Capsule Scale Model * Star of Aoxiang * Aolong-1 * Tiange-1 * Tiange-2 , , LEO , {{success , , , , , - , , Y2 , , 20 April 2017
11:41 , , 7 , , Wenchang Space Launch Site, Wenchang, LC-2 , , None , , Tianzhou 1 , , LEO , {{success , , , , , - , , 7A-Y1 , , 16 March 2020
13:34 , , 7A , , Wenchang Space Launch Site, Wenchang, LC-2 , , None , , XJY-6-01 , , GTO , {{Failure , , , , , - , , 7A-Y2 , , 11 March 2021
17:51 , , 7A , , Wenchang Space Launch Site, Wenchang, LC-2 , , None , , Shiyan (satellite), Shiyan 9 , , GTO , {{success , , , , , - , , Y3 , , 29 May 2021
12:55 , , 7 , , Wenchang Space Launch Site, Wenchang, LC-2 , , None , , Tianzhou 2 , , LEO , {{Success , , , , , - , , Y4 , , 20 September 2021
07:10 , , 7 , , Wenchang Space Launch Site, Wenchang, LC-2 , , None , , Tianzhou 3 , , LEO , {{Success , , , , , - , , 7A-Y3 , , 23 December 2021
10:12 , , 7A , , Wenchang Space Launch Site, Wenchang, LC-2 , , None , , Shiyan (satellite), Shiyan 12-01
Shiyan (satellite), Shiyan 12-02 , , GTO , {{Success , , , , , - , , Y5 , , 9 May 2022
17:56:37 , , 7 , , Wenchang Space Launch Site, Wenchang, LC-2 , , None , , Tianzhou 4 , , LEO , {{Success , , , , , - , , 7A-Y5 , , 13 September 2022
13:18 , , 7A , , Wenchang Space Launch Site, Wenchang, LC-2 , , None , , Chinasat, ChinaSat 1E , , GTO , {{Success , , , , , - , , Y6 , , 12 November 2022
02:03:12 , , 7 , , Wenchang Space Launch Site, Wenchang, LC-2 , , None , , Tianzhou 5 , , LEO , {{Success , , , , {{cite tweet, number=1515851790499008513, user=CNSpaceflight, title=Key takeaways from the press conference: 7 launches in total from Wenchang
[...]
07/24 CZ5B Wentian
08/.. CZ7A ❓
10/.. CZ5B Mengtian
11/.. CZ7 Tianzhou-5
12/.. CZ7A ❓
2 crewed launches from Jiuquan
06/05 SZ14
12/.. SZ15, author=China Spaceflight, date=18 April 2022, access-date=18 April 2022 , - , , 7A-Y4 , , 9 January 2023 , , 7A , , Wenchang Space Launch Site, Wenchang, LC-2 , , None , , Shijian, Shijian 23 , , GTO , {{Planned , , , , {{cite tweet , number=1604495055149858817 , author=China Spaceflight , user=CNSpaceflight , title=The next Long March 7A launch planned in December has been postponed to January 09, 2023. The rocket has been recently transported to Wenchang , date=18 December 2022 , access-date=18 December 2022 , - , , Y7 , , April 2023 , , 7 , , Wenchang Space Launch Site, Wenchang, LC-2 , , None , , Tianzhou 6 , , LEO , {{Planned , , , ,

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