Long March 2E

The Long March 2E made its maiden flight on 16 July 1990 and made 7 launches in total. Two of the launches were failures that destroyed the satellite, and one launch was a partial failure that damaged the satellite. All of the failures were caused by excessive vibration.

The first launch failure occurred on 21 December 1992, during the launch of the original Optus B2. Windshear caused the payload fairing to implode 45 seconds into flight, destroying the satellite. The rocket continued to orbit, deploying what was left of the upper stage and payload into a low Earth orbit.[2] U.S. satellite manufacturer Hughes recommended reinforcement of the fairing. However, China chose not to follow the recommendation and instead added more rivets for the successful launch of Optus B3.[3]

The second failure occurred on 25 January 1995 during the launch of Apstar 2, when the rocket exploded 50 seconds after liftoff. Based on readings from instrumentation that it added to the satellite, Hughes concluded that wind shear had again caused the collapse of a structurally-deficient fairing. However, Liu Jiyuan, the Director of the China Aerospace Corporation, claimed that the rocket-satellite interface was at fault and threatened never to do business with Hughes again. The two sides finally agreed that the interface and the fairing would both be redesigned.[3][4]

The information provided by Hughes caused great political controversy in the United States, since it could be used to improve Chinese rockets and ballistic missiles. In 1998, the U.S. Congress classified satellite technology as a munition and gave control over export licenses to the State Department under ITAR.[5] No export licenses to China have been approved since 1998, and an official at the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security emphasized in 2016 that "no U.S.-origin content, regardless of significance, regardless of whether it’s incorporated into a foreign-made item, can go to China."[6]

The return-to-flight payload, AsiaSat 2, had to pay a 27% premium for satellite insurance instead of the usual 17–20%. Although the satellite was delivered to the correct orbit, the launch was a partial failure. Excessive forces during the launch caused a misalignment of the antenna feed horns on the Ku band transponders, reducing the satellite's coverage area.[3] AsiaSat filed a satellite insurance claim for $58 million.[7]

After one more successful launch, the Long March 2E was retired at the end of 1995.

^note Original launch attempt on March 22, 1992 at 10:40 UTC was aborted after engine ignition due to one booster engine igniter shutdown after metal contaminants caused electric arcing. Launch vehicle suffered damage and had to be replaced.

^note Excessive forces during the launch caused a misalignment of the antenna feed horns on the Ku band transponders, reducing the satellite's coverage area.