Long March 2C or Chang Zheng 2C (CZ-2C) as in Chinese pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

 is a member of the Long March 2 rocket family

Long March 2 rocket family

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.-History:...

, an expendable launch system

Expendable launch system

An expendable launch system is a launch system that uses an expendable launch vehicle to carry a payload into space. The vehicles used in expendable launch systems are designed to be used only once , and their components are not recovered for re-use after launch...

 operated by the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

. This vehicle was developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology

China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology

The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology is the premier space launch vehicle manufacturer in China and one of the major launch service providers in the world. CALT is a subordinate of the larger China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation...

, and the first launch occurred on November 26, 1975. It is a two-stage launch vehicle with storable propellants, consisting of Nitrogen Tetroxide and Unsymmetrical Dimethyl Hydrazine. Beginning from its first launch, the Long March 2C had 34 consecutive successful launches until its first failure in 2011.

Several variants of this launch vehicle have been built:

• 2C/SD — Commercial satellite launcher.
• 2C/SD — Smart dispenser allows delivery of two satellites simultaneously.
• 2C/SM — Improved version.

Specifications

• Stages: 2
• Length: 39.925 meters
• Maximum diameter: 3.35 meters
• Liftoff mass: 213 tons
• Liftoff thrust: 2962 kilonewtons
• 2nd stage thrust: 742/47 kilonewtons (main/vernier)
• Payload to LEO: 2400 kilograms.

Launches

Date	Launch site	Payload	Outcome	Comments
2008-09-06	Taiyuan Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center also known as Base 25 , is a People's Republic of China space and defence launch facility . It is situated in Kelan County, Xinzhou Prefecture, Shanxi Province and is the second of three launch sites having been founded in March 1966 and coming into full...	Two Huanjing satellite Huanjing satellite China plans to launch eleven Huanjing satellites for disaster and environmental monitoring . The satellites will be capable of visible, infrared, multi-spectral and synthetic aperture radar imaging.... s	Success