Long March 2D rocket completes 100th flight, launches 2 satellites into orbit

The Long March 2D, one of the most reliable and successful models of carrier rockets in China, conducted its 100th flight on Monday morning from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province, sending two experimental satellites into space.

The rocket blasted off at 11 am from a mountain-surrounded service tower, and then successfully placed the Shiyan 30A and 30B satellites into their preset orbital positions, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the launch mission's contractor.

By now, all of the Long March 2D type's 100 launches have been successful. Therefore it is called a "gold-medal rocket model" in China's space industry.

Those missions deployed a total of 316 scientific, remote-sensing, technology demonstration and other kinds of satellites into space.

In addition to Chinese satellites, the model has also lifted satellites from a number of foreign clients from Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Netherlands, Argentina, Pakistan and others.

Designed and manufactured by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, a CASC subsidiary, the Long March 2D made its maiden flight in August 1992, transporting a recoverable Earth-observation satellite into orbit.

The 40.6-meter-long rocket has a diameter of 3.35 meters and a liftoff weight of 251 metric tons.

Its typical tasks are to transport satellites to low-Earth or sun-synchronous orbits.

It is capable of sending a 1.3-ton spacecraft to a sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of 700 kilometers, or satellites with a combined weight of 4 tons to a low-Earth orbit.

Monday's launch marks the 598th mission of the Long March family and China's 60th rocket launch in 2025.