Long March 2F

Long March 2F

Chang Zheng 2F "Shenjian"
Function Human-rated orbital launch vehicle
Manufacturer CALT
Country of origin China
Size
Height 62 m (203 ft)[1]
Diameter 3.35 m (11.0 ft)[1]
Mass 464,000 kg (1,023,000 lb)[1]
Stages 2
Capacity
Payload to LEO 8,400 kg (18,500 lb)[1]
Associated rockets
Family Long March 2
Launch history
Status Active
Launch sites SLS, JSLC
Total launches 13
Successes 13
First flight 19 November 1999
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 (2.13 min)
Fuel 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 (2.77 min)
Fuel 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 (5.0 min)
Fuel N2O4/UDMH


The Long March 2F (Chinese: 长征二号F火箭 Changzheng 2F), also known as the CZ-2F, LM-2F and Shenjian,[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 Centre. 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 and Shenzhou 11 missions into orbit.[4][5]

Differences from the Long March 2E

Externally, the rocket is similar from the Long March 2E from which it was derived. Most of the changes are redundant systems to improve safety, although there are some structural modifications which 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 sports 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 Jing Muchun, 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 percent." [9]

Launch history

Flight number Date (UTC) Launch site Payload Orbit Result Remarks
1 November 19, 1999
22:30		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 1 LEO Success First unmanned test of the Shenzhou spacecraft
2 January 9, 2001
17:00		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 2 LEO Success Second unmanned test of the Shenzhou spacecraft, carried live animals
3 March 25, 2002
14:15		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 3 LEO Success Third unmanned test of the Shenzhou spacecraft
4 December 29, 2002
16:40		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 4 LEO Success Final unmanned test of the Shenzhou spacecraft
5 October 15, 2003
01:00		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 5 LEO Success China's first crewed spaceflight
6 October 12, 2005
01:00		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 6 LEO Success Second crewed spaceflight, first with two astronauts
7 September 25, 2008
13:10		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 7 LEO Success First flight with three crew members, first to feature extra-vehicular activity
8 September 29, 2011
13:16		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Tiangong 1 LEO Success The first Chinese space station. Modified version Long March 2F/G with larger payload fairing[8]
9 October 31, 2011
21:58		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 8 LEO Success Unmanned spaceflight to test automatic rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1
10 June 16, 2012
10:37		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 9 LEO Success Three crew members, to test rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1
11 June 11, 2013
09:38		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 10 LEO Success Three crew members; rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1
12 September 15, 2016
14:04		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Tiangong 2 LEO Success Second Chinese space laboratory Tiangong-2, launched by 2F/G variant
13 October 16, 2016
23:30		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 11 LEO Success Two crew members;[10] rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-2 for a 30-day mission.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Long March 2.
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Mark Wade. "CZ-2F". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  2. ↑ "LM-2F - Launch Vehicle". CGWIC. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  3. ↑ "CZ". Astronautix.com. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  4. ↑ "China to launch Shenzhou-7 spacecraft on Thursday". news.xinhuanet.com. English Xinhua. 2008-09-24. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  5. ↑ "China's Shenzhou 11 blasts off on space station mission". BBC. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "Long March 2F - Summary". Spaceandtech.com. 1999-11-20. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  7. ↑ Archived May 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  8. 1 2 Jones, Morris (2016-01-27). "Last Launch for Long March 2F/G". Space Daily. Retrieved 2016-04-07. 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.
  9. ↑ "CCTV International". Cctv.com. 2008-09-25. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  10. ↑ Huang, Jin (8 March 2016). "Why will Shenzhou-11 carry only two astronauts to space?". People's Daily Online. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
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