The Long March 3C (), also known as the Changzheng 3C, CZ-3C and LM-3C, is a Chinese
orbit
In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...
al
launch vehicle
A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...
. It is launched from Launch Complex 2 and 3 at the
Xichang Satellite Launch Center
The Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC), also known as the Xichang Space Center, is a spaceport in China. It is located in (), Mianning county, approximately northwest of Xichang, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan.
It is op ...
(XSLC). A three-stage rocket with two strapon
liquid rocket boosters, it is a member of the
Long March 3 rocket family, and was derived from the
Long March 3B
The Long March 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 rocket with four strap-on ...
. It was designed to fill a gap in payload capacities between the
Long March 3A and
3B.
Launch statistics
Launches
It made its maiden flight on 25 April 2008, at 15:35
UTC. The payload for the first launch was the
Tianlian I-01 data relay communications satellite. The second carried the
Compass-G2 navigation satellite and was conducted on 14 April 2009. The third launch was made on 16 January 2010, with the
Compass-G1 satellite. The fourth carrying the
Compass-G3 navigation satellite was launched on 2 June 2010. On 1 October 2010, it successfully launched China's second lunar probe,
Chang'e 2.
An enhanced version, named Long March 3C/E, debuted during the launch of
Chang'e 5-T1 on 23 October 2014. On 30 March 2015, the
Yuanzheng upper stage
A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own Rocket engine, engines and Rocket propellant, propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of anoth ...
was used on top of a Long March 3C launch vehicle for the first time.
List of launches
See also
*
List of Long March launches (2025-2029)
References
Long March (rocket family)
Vehicles introduced in 2008
Long stubs with short prose
{{rocket-stub