Long March 2F

Long March 2F
	The Long March 2F rocket rolled out to the launch site for Shenzhou 12
Function	Crew-rated orbital launch vehicle
Manufacturer	China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT)
Country of origin	China
Size
Height	62 m (203 ft)
Diameter	3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Mass	464,000 kg (1,023,000 lb)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	8,400 kg (18,500 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	Long March 2
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, SLS
Total launches	15
Success(es)	15
First flight	19 November 1999
Last flight	17 June 2021
Boosters
No. boosters	4
Length	15.3 m (50 ft)
Diameter	2.3 m (7 ft 7 in)
Empty mass	3,200 kg (7,100 lb)
Gross mass	41,000 kg (90,000 lb)
Engines	1 YF-20B per booster
Thrust	814 kN (183,000 lbf)
Total thrust	3,256 kN (732,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	291 s (2.85 km/s)
Burn time	128 seconds
Propellant	N2O4 / UDMH
First stage
Length	23.7 m (78 ft)
Diameter	3.4 m (11 ft)
Empty mass	9,500 kg (20,900 lb)
Gross mass	196,500 kg (433,200 lb)
Engines	4 YF-20B
Thrust	3,256 kN (732,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	291 s (2.85 km/s)
Burn time	166 seconds
Propellant	N2O4 / UDMH
Second stage
Length	13.5 m (44 ft)
Diameter	3.4 m (11 ft)
Empty mass	5,500 kg (12,100 lb)
Gross mass	91,500 kg (201,700 lb)
Engines	1 YF-24B
Thrust	831 kN (187,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	289 s (2.83 km/s)
Burn time	300 seconds
Propellant	N2O4 / UDMH

Original version of the Long March 2F rocket

The Long March 2F (Chinese: 长征二号F火箭 Changzheng 2F), also known as the CZ-2F, LM-2F and Shenjian (神箭, "the Divine Arrow"),^[1] is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March 2 rocket family. Designed to launch crewed Shenzhou (spacecraft), the Long March 2F is a human-rated two-stage version of the Long March 2E rocket, which in turn was based on the Long March 2C launch vehicle.^[2] It is launched from complex SLS at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The Long March 2F made its maiden flight on 19 November 1999, with the Shenzhou 1 spacecraft. After the flight of Shenzhou 3, CPC General Secretary and President Jiang Zemin named the rocket "Shenjian" meaning "Divine Arrow".^[3]

On 15 October 2003, a Long March 2F launched Shenzhou 5, China's first human spaceflight. It has since launched the Shenzhou 6, Shenzhou 7, Shenzhou 9, Shenzhou 10, Shenzhou 11 and Shenzhou 12 missions into orbit.^[4]^[5]

Differences from the Long March 2E[]

The Long March 2F rocket with the inscription of the words "the Divine Arrow"

Externally, the rocket is similar to the Long March 2E from which it was derived. Most of the changes involve the addition of redundant systems to improve safety, although there are some structural modifications that allow the rocket to support the heavier fairing required by the Shenzhou capsule. The rocket is also capable of lifting heavier payloads with the addition of extra boosters to the first stage.^[6]

The rocket also has an "advanced fault monitoring and diagnosis system to help the astronauts escape in time of emergency" (in other words, a launch escape system), and is the first Chinese made rocket to be assembled and rolled out to its launch site vertically.^[7]

A derivative called Long March 2F/G, first launched in 2011, was designed to launch space laboratories such as Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2. It dispenses with the launch escape system and supports a larger fairing to accommodate the bulkier payloads.^[8]

Vibration issues[]

During the Shenzhou 5 flight, Yang Liwei became unwell due to heavy vibrations from the rocket. Although the problem was reduced somewhat by modifications to the rocket, vibrations were reported again in Shenzhou 6 necessitating further changes. According to , chief designer of the Long March 2F "We made changes to the pipelines of the rocket engine, adjusting its frequency. A new design for the pressure accumulator produced evident results. The vibration has now been reduced by more than 50%".^{[citation needed]}

The predecessor Long March 2E had also been known for vibration. During two launches, excessive vibration caused the collapse of the payload fairing, destroying the Optus B2 and Apstar 2 satellites.^[9] After the payload fairing was redesigned, excessive vibration also damaged the AsiaSat 2 satellite during launch. The Long March 2E was withdrawn from the geostationary launch market a year later.^[10]

List of launches[]

Flight number	Serial number	Date (UTC)	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Crew	Result	Remarks
1	Y1	19 November 1999 22:30	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 1	LEO	N/A	Success	First uncrewed test of the Shenzhou spacecraft
2	Y2	9 January 2001 17:00	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 2	LEO	N/A	Success	Second uncrewed test of the Shenzhou spacecraft, carried live animals.
3	Y3	25 March 2002 14:15	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 3	LEO	N/A	Success	Third uncrewed test of the Shenzhou spacecraft.
4	Y4	29 December 2002 16:40	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 4	LEO	N/A	Success	Final uncrewed test of the Shenzhou spacecraft prior to flying with crew.
5	Y5	15 October 2003 01:00	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 5	LEO	Yang Liwei	Success	China's first crewed spaceflight.
6	Y6	12 October 2005 01:00	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 6	LEO	Fei Junlong Nie Haisheng	Success	Second crewed spaceflight, first with two astronauts.
7	Y7	25 September 2008 13:10	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 7	LEO	Zhai Zhigang Liu Boming Jing Haipeng	Success	First flight with three crew members, first to feature extravehicular activity.
8	T1	29 September 2011 13:16	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Tiangong 1	LEO	N/A	Success	The first Chinese space station. Modified version Long March 2F/G with larger payload fairing.^[8]
9	Y8	31 October 2011 21:58	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 8	LEO	N/A	Success	Uncrewed spaceflight to test automatic rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1
10	Y9	16 June 2012 10:37	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 9	LEO	Jing Haipeng Liu Wang Liu Yang	Success	Three crew members, to test rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1.
11	Y10	11 June 2013 09:38	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 10	LEO	Nie Haisheng Zhang Xiaoguang Wang Yaping	Success	Three crew members; rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1.
12	T2	15 September 2016 14:04	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Tiangong 2	LEO	N/A	Success	Second Chinese space laboratory Tiangong-2, launched by 2F/G variant.
13	Y11	16 October 2016 23:30	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 11	LEO	Jing Haipeng Chen Dong	Success	Two crew members;^[11] rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-2 for a 30-day mission.
14	T3	4 September 2020 07:30	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Reusable Experimental Spacecraft^[12]	LEO	N/A	Success	Test flight of a reusable experimental spacecraft.^[12]^[13]
15	Y12	17 June 2021 01:22	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 12	LEO	Nie Haisheng Liu Boming Tang Hongbo	Success	Three crew members; first visit Tianhe, the first module of the Chinese Space Station, for a three-month mission.
16	Y13	16 October 2021	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC	Shenzhou 13	LEO	Zhai Zhigang Wang Yaping Ye Guangfu	Planned	Three crew members; planned to visit Tianhe, to continue construction of the space station, for a six-month mission.^[14]
17	Y14	31 May 2022	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC		LEO	Liu Wang Liu Yang TBA	Planned	Three crew members; rendezvous and docking with the Chinese space station for a six-month mission.^[15]
18	Y15	30 November 2022	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC		LEO	TBA TBA TBA	Planned	Three crew members; rendezvous and docking with the Chinese space station for a six-month mission.^[16]
19	Y16	June 2023	LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC		LEO	TBA TBA TBA	Planned	Three crew members; will deliver the first long-duration crew to the Chinese Space Station.

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Mark Wade. "CZ-2F". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
^ "LM-2F - Launch Vehicle". CGWIC. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
^ "CZ". Astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
^ "China to launch Shenzhou 7 spacecraft on Thursday". news.xinhuanet.com. English Xinhua. 24 September 2008. Archived from the original on 5 July 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
^ "China's Shenzhou 11 blasts off on space station mission". BBC News. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
^ "Long March 2F - Summary". spaceandtech.com. 20 November 1999. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
^ [1] Archived May 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Jones, Morris (27 January 2016). "Last Launch for Long March 2F/G". Space Daily. Retrieved 7 April 2016. The principal difference between the Shenzhou-launching Long March 2F and its 2F/G cousin is easy to spot. The 2F/G carries a very different payload fairing at its top. This accounts. for the larger dimensions of the Tiangong laboratory, which wouldn't fit inside the standard payload fairing for the 2F.
It also lacks an emergency escape system. With no astronauts on board, the escape rocket and stabilizer panels that help Shenzhou spacecraft to separate from their rocket in a launch failure are not needed. This simplifies the design and also reduces the weight of the rocket. That's critical. Tiangong modules weigh more than Shenzhou spacecraft, so this helps to keep the overall launch mass within performance limits.
^ Zinger, Kurtis J. (2014). "An Overreaction that Destroyed an Industry: The Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Satellite Export Controls" (PDF). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ "CZ-2E Space Launch Vehicle". GlobalSecurity.org.
^ Huang, Jin (8 March 2016). "Why will Shenzhou-11 carry only two astronauts to space?". People's Daily Online. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "我国成功发射可重复使用试验航天器" [My country successfully launched a reusable experimental spacecraft]. Xinhuanet. 4 September 2020.
^ https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=50274.msg2079224#new
^ "长征二号F/G Y13 • 神舟十三号载人飞船 • LongMarch 2F/G Y13 • Shenzhou-13". spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
^ "长征二号F • 神舟十四号载人飞船（2022年待定）" [Long March 2F • Shenzhou-14 (2022 TBD)]. spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
^ "长征二号F • 神舟十五号载人飞船（2022年待定）" [Long March 2F • Shenzhou-15 (2022 TBD)]. spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.

[EA-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Mark Wade. "CZ-2F". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2 May 2008.

[2] "LM-2F - Launch Vehicle". CGWIC. Retrieved 13 December 2010.

[3] "CZ". Astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2010.

[4] "China to launch Shenzhou 7 spacecraft on Thursday". news.xinhuanet.com. English Xinhua. 24 September 2008. Archived from the original on 5 July 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2010.

[BBC_17_Oct_2016-5] "China's Shenzhou 11 blasts off on space station mission". BBC News. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.

[6] "Long March 2F - Summary". spaceandtech.com. 20 November 1999. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2010.

[7] [1] Archived May 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine

[2fg-8] Jump up to: ^a ^b Jones, Morris (27 January 2016). "Last Launch for Long March 2F/G". Space Daily. Retrieved 7 April 2016. The principal difference between the Shenzhou-launching Long March 2F and its 2F/G cousin is easy to spot. The 2F/G carries a very different payload fairing at its top. This accounts. for the larger dimensions of the Tiangong laboratory, which wouldn't fit inside the standard payload fairing for the 2F.
It also lacks an emergency escape system. With no astronauts on board, the escape rocket and stabilizer panels that help Shenzhou spacecraft to separate from their rocket in a launch failure are not needed. This simplifies the design and also reduces the weight of the rocket. That's critical. Tiangong modules weigh more than Shenzhou spacecraft, so this helps to keep the overall launch mass within performance limits.

[zinger2014-9] Zinger, Kurtis J. (2014). "An Overreaction that Destroyed an Industry: The Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Satellite Export Controls" (PDF). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[globalsecurity-10] "CZ-2E Space Launch Vehicle". GlobalSecurity.org.

[peoplesdaily20160308-11] Huang, Jin (8 March 2016). "Why will Shenzhou-11 carry only two astronauts to space?". People's Daily Online. Retrieved 10 March 2016.

[Xinhua20200904-12] Jump up to: ^a ^b "我国成功发射可重复使用试验航天器" [My country successfully launched a reusable experimental spacecraft]. Xinhuanet. 4 September 2020.

[13] ttps://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=50274.msg2079224#new

[14] "长征二号F/G Y13 • 神舟十三号载人飞船 • LongMarch 2F/G Y13 • Shenzhou-13". spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.

[15] "长征二号F • 神舟十四号载人飞船（2022年待定）" [Long March 2F • Shenzhou-14 (2022 TBD)]. spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.

[16] "长征二号F • 神舟十五号载人飞船（2022年待定）" [Long March 2F • Shenzhou-15 (2022 TBD)]. spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.

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show v t Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara A5 Antares 230+ Ariane 5 Atlas V Ceres-1 Delta IV Heavy Electron Epsilon Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha^† GSLV Mk II Mk III H-IIA Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11^† Kaituozhe 2 LauncherOne Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 7 7A 8 11 Minotaur I IV V C OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qased Rocket 3^† Safir Shavit Simorgh^† Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v Unha Vega Zenit 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque-1^†
In development	Agnibaan Amur Angara 1.2 Antariksh - 1 Ariane 6 Bloostar Chetak Cyclone-4M Eris Firefly Beta H3 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 921 rocket 9 Miura 5 Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 Nuri OS-M2 OS-M4 Orbex Prime Phoenix Red Dwarf SLV-1T SLV-VT SLS Block 1 Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 SSLV Starship Terran 1 R Vega C Vega E Vikram - I Vikram - II Vikram - III Vulcan Zero Zhuque-2
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 Ariane 1 2 3 4 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV Diamant Dnepr Energia Europa^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos 1 2I 3 3M Lambda 4S Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Saturn I IB V Scout SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

show v t Long March (rocket family)
Rockets	Feng Bao 1 Long March 1 1D Long March 2 2A 2C 2D 2E 2F Long March 3 3A 3B 3B/E 3C Long March 4 4A 4B 4C Long March 5 5B Long March 6 Long March 7 7A Long March 8 921 rocket Long March 9 Long March 11
Launch sites	Jiuquan Taiyuan Wenchang Xichang
Manufacturers	China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology
Designers	Wang Xiji
List of Long March launches

show v t Tiangong space station
Components	Core Cabin Module (Tianhe) (2021) Laboratory Module 1 (Wentian) (2022) Laboratory Module 2 (Mengtian) (2022)
Visiting vehicles	Shenzhou (crewed) Tianzhou (uncrewed) Xuntian (space telescope)
Sites and facilities	Beijing C&C Center Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Wenchang Satellite Launch Center
Launch vehicles	Long March 2F Long March 5 Long March 7
Precursors	Project 921 Shenzhou program Shenzhou 8 Shenzhou 9 Shenzhou 10 Shenzhou 11 Shenzhou 12 Tiangong program Tiangong-1 Tiangong-2 Tiangong-3 (cancelled)
China National Space Administration (CNSA) Chinese space program