Long March 4B
Rendering of Long March 4B
FunctionLaunch vehicle
ManufacturerSAST
Country of originChina
Cost per launchUS$50 million (2006) [1]
Size
Height44.1 m (145 ft)[1]
Diameter3.35 m (11.0 ft)[2]
Mass249,200 kg (549,400 lb)[2]
Stages3
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass4,200 kg (9,300 lb) [3]
Payload to SSO
Mass2,800 kg (6,200 lb)[3]
Payload to GTO
Mass1,500 kg (3,300 lb)[3]
Associated rockets
FamilyLong March
Derivative workLong March 4C
Launch history
StatusActive
Launch sites
Total launches48
Success(es)47
Failure(s)1
First flight10 May 1999
Last flight16 April 2023
First stage
Height27.91 m (91.6 ft)
Diameter3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Propellant mass182,000 kg (401,000 lb)
Powered by4 YF-21C
Maximum thrust2,961.6 kN (665,800 lbf)
Specific impulse2,550 m/s (8,400 ft/s)
PropellantN2O4 / UDMH
Second stage
Height10.9 m (36 ft)
Diameter3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Propellant mass52,700 kg (116,200 lb)
Powered by1 YF-24C
(1 x YF-22C (Main))
(4 x YF-23C (Vernier))
Maximum thrust742.04 kN (166,820 lbf) (Main)
47.1 kN (10,600 lbf) (Vernier)
Specific impulse2,942 m/s (9,650 ft/s) (Main)
2,834 m/s (9,300 ft/s) (Vernier)
PropellantN2O4 / UDMH
Third stage
Height14.79 m (48.5 ft)
Diameter2.9 m (9 ft 6 in)
Propellant mass14,000 kg (31,000 lb)
Powered by2 YF-40
Maximum thrust100.85 kN (22,670 lbf)
Specific impulse2,971 m/s (9,750 ft/s)
PropellantN2O4 / UDMH
[edit on Wikidata]

The Long March 4B (Chinese: 长征四号乙火箭), also known as the Chang Zheng 4B, CZ-4B, and LM-4B, is a Chinese expendable orbital launch vehicle. Launched from Launch Complex 1 at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, it is a 3-stage launch vehicle, used mostly to place satellites into low Earth orbit and Sun-synchronous orbits. It was first launched on 10 May 1999, with the FY-1C weather satellite, which would later be the target in the 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test.

The Chang Zheng 4B experienced its only launch failure on 9 December 2013, with the loss of the CBERS-3 satellite.[4]

Launch statistics

1
2
3
4
5
1999
2005
2010
2015
2020
  •   Failure
  •   Partial failure
  •   Success
  •   Planned

List of launches

Main article: List of Long March launches
Flight
number 		Serial
number 		Date and time
(UTC) 		Launch site Payload Orbit Result
1 Y2 10 May 1999
01:33 		Taiyuan
LA-7 		Fengyun 1C
Shijian 5 		SSO Success
2 Y1 14 October 1999
03:15 		Taiyuan
LA-7 		CBERS-1
SACI-1 		SSO Success
3 Y3 1 September 2000
03:25 		Taiyuan
LA-7 		Ziyuan II-01 SSO Success
4 Y5 15 May 2002
01:50 		Taiyuan
LA-7 		Fengyun 1D
HaiYang-1A 		SSO Success
5 Y6 27 October 2002
03:17 		Taiyuan
LA-7 		Ziyuan II-02 SSO Success
6 Y4 21 October 2003
03:16 		Taiyuan
LA-7 		CBERS-2
Chuangxin 1-01 		SSO Success
7 Y7 8 September 2004
23:14 		Taiyuan
LA-7 		Shijian 6-01A
Shijian 6-01B 		SSO Success
8 Y8 6 November 2004
03:10 		Taiyuan
LA-7 		Ziyuan II-03 SSO Success
9 Y16 23 October 2006
23:34 		Taiyuan
LA-7 		Shijian 6-02A
Shijian 6-02B 		SSO Success
10 Y17 19 September 2007
03:26 		Taiyuan
LA-7 		CBERS-2B SSO Success
11 Y22 25 October 2008
01:15 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Shijian 6-03A
Shijian 6-03B 		SSO Success
12 Y20 15 December 2008
03:22 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Yaogan 5 SSO Success
13 Y23 6 October 2010
00:49 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Shijian 6-04A
Shijian 6-04B 		SSO Success
14 Y14 15 August 2011
22:57 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		HaiYang-2A SSO Success
15 Y21 9 November 2011
03:21 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Yaogan 12
Tianxun 1 		SSO Success
16 Y15 22 December 2011
03:26 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Ziyuan I-02C SSO Success
17 Y26 9 January 2012
03:17 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Ziyuan 3-01
VesselSat-2 		SSO Success
18 Y12 10 May 2012
07:06 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Yaogan 14
Tiantuo 1 		SSO Success
19 Y25 25 October 2013
03:50 		Jiuquan
LA-4/SLS-2 		Shijian 16-01 LEO Success
20 Y10 9 December 2013
03:26 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		CBERS-3 SSO Failure
One of the two third-stage engines shut down prematurely, so that the satellite failed to reach orbit. The cause was traced to foreign debris that blocked the engine's fuel intake.[5]
21 Y27 19 August 2014
03:15 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Gaofen 2
BRITE-PL2 (Heweliusz) 		SSO Success
22 Y28 8 September 2014
03:22 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Yaogan 21
Tiantuo 2 		SSO Success
23 Y32 7 December 2014
03:26 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		CBERS-4 SSO Success
24 Y29 27 December 2014
03:22 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Yaogan 26 SSO Success
25 Y30 26 June 2015
06:22 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Gaofen 8 SSO Success
26 Y24 8 November 2015
07:06 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Yaogan 28 SSO Success
27 Y33 30 May 2016
03:17 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Ziyuan 3-02
ÑuSat-1/-2 		SSO Success
28 Y35 29 June 2016
03:21 		Jiuquan
LA-4/SLS-2 		Shijian 16-02 LEO Success
29 Y31 15 June 2017
03:00 		Jiuquan
LA-4/SLS-2 		HXMT
ÑuSat-3
Zhuhai-1 		LEO Success
30 Y37 31 July 2018
03:00 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Gaofen 11-01 SSO Success
31 Y34 24 October 2018
22:57 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Haiyang-2B SSO Success[6]
32 Y36 29 April 2019
22:52 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Tianhui-2-01 A/B SSO Success
33 Y39 12 September 2019
03:26 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Ziyuan I-02D SSO Success
34 Y38 3 November 2019
03:22 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Gaofen 7
Xiaoxiang 1-08 		SSO Success
35 Y44 20 December 2019
03:22 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		CBERS-4A
ETRSS-1 		SSO Success
36 Y43 3 July 2020
03:10 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Gaofen Multi-Mode
BY-70-2 		SSO Success
37 Y45 25 July 2020
03:13 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Ziyuan 3-03
Tianqi 10
NJU-HKU 1 		SSO Success
38 Y46 7 September 2020
05:57 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Gaofen 11-02 SSO Success
A booster presumably coming from this launch fell near populated areas.[7][8]
39 Y41 21 September 2020
05:40 		Jiuquan
LA-4/SLS-2 		Haiyang-2C LEO Success
40 Y42 27 September 2020
03:23 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Huanjing-2A
Huanjing-2B 		SSO Success
41 Y49 8 April 2021
23:01 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Shiyan 6-03 SSO Success
42 Y48 19 May 2021
04:03 		Jiuquan
LA-4/SLS-2 		Haiyang-2D LEO Success
43 Y50 18 August 2021
22:32 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Tianhui-2 02A
Tianhui-2 02B 		SSO Success
44 Y52 20 November 2021
01:51 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Gaofen 11-03 SSO Success
45 Y47 10 December 2021
00:11 		Jiuquan
LA-4/SLS-2 		Shijian-6 05A
Shijian-6 05B 		SSO Success
46 Y40 4 August 2022
03:08 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		TECIS
Minxing Shaonian
Jiaotong-4 		SSO Success
47 Y55 27 December 2022
07:37 		Taiyuan
LA-9 		Gaofen 11-04 SSO Success
48 Y51 16 April 2023
01:36 		Jiuquan
LA-4/SLS-2 		Fengyun 3G LEO Success
Source: Gunter's Space Page[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ Brian Harvey (2013). China in Space: The Great Leap Forward. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-4614-5043-6.
  2. ^ a b "CZ-4B". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 21 March 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  3. ^ a b c "Long March-4B". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  4. ^ Boadle, Anthony. "China-Brazil satellite launch fails, likely fell back to Earth". Reuters. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  5. ^ "China Great Wall Pins December Long March Launch Failure on Fuel-line". SpaceNews. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  6. ^ Barbosa, Rui C. (24 October 2018). "Chinese Long March 4B lofts Haiyang-2B". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  7. ^ Jones, Andrew (7 September 2020). "Chinese rocket booster appears to crash near school during Gaofen 11 satellite launch". Space.com. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  8. ^ Sebastian Kettley (8 September 2020). "China rocket crash: Watch the moment Long March booster rocket crashes near school - video". express.co.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  9. ^ "CZ-4B (Chang Zheng-4B)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
Category