Success
Zhongwei 1
Communications
China Aerospace Corporation(CASC)Government
Long March 3B
Direct-GEOorbit
The Zhongwei 1 (Chinastar 1) satellite, an A2100A class comsat built by Lockheed Martin for the China Orient Telecommunications Satellite Co., part of the Chinese telecoms ministry. Zhongwei 1 will serve China, India, Korea and southeast Asia with 18 C-band and 20 Ku-band transponders. It was orbited on a CZ-3B launch vehicle using a supersynchronous transfer orbit.
Saturday, May 30, 1998 at 10:00 AM
Mission details
Orbital Attempt
#4,241
CASC Mission
#22
Pad Launch
#14
Location Launch
#26
Designator
1998-033
Launch Window
NET
May 30, 1998, 10:00 AM
Schedule Changes
1 update
Long March 3B Specs
The Long March 3B is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. Introduced in 1996, it is launched from Launch Area 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan. A three-stage rocket with four strap-on liquid rocket boosters, it is currently the most powerful member of the Long March rocket family and the heaviest of the Long March 3 rocket family, and is mainly used to place communications satellites into geosynchronous orbits.
Length
54.8 m
Diameter
3.35 m
Launch Mass
426 t
Thrust
5,923 kN
LEO Capacity
11,500 kg
GTO Capacity
5,100 kg
GEO Capacity
2,000 kg
Launch Cost
$70M
Reusable
No
Maiden Flight
1996
Fastest Turnaround
25d 23h
Total Launches
24
Successful
21
Failed
3
Consecutive Success
3
Maiden flight: Feb 14, 1996
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
May 30, 1998, 6:00 PM
Total Launches
239
Total Landings
0
Coordinates
28.2460, 102.0266