Partial Failure
DFH-2A 5
Communications
Ministry of Aerospace Industry(CASC)Government
Long March 3
Direct-GEOorbit
Chinese geostationary communications satellite. Lost during launch because the CZ-3 upper stage failed to ignite.
Saturday, December 28, 1991 at 12:00 PM
Mission details
Orbital Attempt
#3,688
CASC Mission
#9
Pad Launch
#8
Location Launch
#9
Designator
1991-088
Launch Window
NET
Dec 28, 1991, 12:00 PM
Schedule Changes
1 update
Status Details
Failure Reason
Satellite left in unusable orbit due to the third stage shutting down earlier than planned.
Long March 3 Specs
The Long March 3 is a chinese orbital carrier rocket. They all launched from Launch Area 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. It is a 3 stage rocket used to put communication satellites into geosynchronous trasfer orbits.
Length
23.49 m
Diameter
3.35 m
Launch Mass
204 t
Thrust
2,961 kN
LEO Capacity
5,000 kg
GTO Capacity
1,500 kg
Reusable
No
Maiden Flight
1984
Fastest Turnaround
1mo 15d
Total Launches
13
Successful
10
Failed
3
Consecutive Success
2
Maiden flight: Jan 29, 1984
Ministry of Aerospace Industry
Chinese governmental entity in charge of space research from July 1988 to June 1993.
Founded
1988
Total Launches
13
Successful
11
Failed
2
Pending
0
Consecutive Success
0
Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
The Xichang Satellite Launch Center is a spaceport in China. It is located in Zeyuan Town, northwest of Xichang, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan.
Timezone
Asia/Shanghai
Local Launch Time
Dec 28, 1991, 8:00 PM
Total Launches
239
Total Landings
0
Coordinates
28.2460, 102.0266