Long March 2F

The Long March 2F (Chinese: 长征二号F火箭 Changzheng 2F), also known as the CZ-2F, LM-2F and Shenjian (神箭, "the Divine Arrow"),[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]

Long March 2F
Chang Zheng 2F "Shenjian"
FunctionHuman-rated orbital launch vehicle
ManufacturerCALT
Country of originChina
Size
Height62 m (203 ft)[1]
Diameter3.35 m (11.0 ft)[1]
Mass464,000 kg (1,023,000 lb)[1]
Stages2
Capacity
Payload to LEO8,400 kg (18,500 lb)[1]
Associated rockets
FamilyLong March 2
Launch history
StatusActive
Launch sitesSLS, JSLC
Total launches13
Successes13
First flight19 November 1999
Boosters
No. boosters4
Length15.3 m (50 ft)
Diameter2.3 m (7 ft 7 in)
Empty mass3,200 kg (7,100 lb)
Gross mass41,000 kg (90,000 lb)
Engines1 YF-20B per booster
Thrust814 kN (183,000 lbf)
Total thrust3,256 kN (732,000 lbf)
Specific impulse291 s (2.85 km/s)
Burn time128 seconds (2.13 min)
FuelN2O4/UDMH
First stage
Length23.7 m (78 ft)
Diameter3.4 m (11 ft)
Empty mass9,500 kg (20,900 lb)
Gross mass196,500 kg (433,200 lb)
Engines4 YF-20B
Thrust3,256 kN (732,000 lbf)
Specific impulse291 s (2.85 km/s)
Burn time166 seconds (2.77 min)
FuelN2O4/UDMH
Second stage
Length13.5 m (44 ft)
Diameter3.4 m (11 ft)
Empty mass5,500 kg (12,100 lb)
Gross mass91,500 kg (201,700 lb)
Engines1 YF-24B
Thrust831 kN (187,000 lbf)
Specific impulse289 s (2.83 km/s)
Burn time300 seconds (5.0 min)
FuelN2O4/UDMH

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 to the Long March 2E from which it was derived. Most of the changes involve the addition of redundant systems to improve safety, although there are some structural modifications that 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]

The predecessor Long March 2E had also been known for vibration. During two launches, excessive vibration caused the collapse of the payload fairing, destroying the Optus B2 and Apstar 2 satellites.[10] After the payload fairing was redesigned, excessive vibration also damaged the AsiaSat 2 satellite during launch. The Long March 2E was withdrawn from the geostationary launch market a year later.[11]

List of launches
Main article: List of Long March launches
Flight number Date (UTC) Launch site Payload Orbit Crew Result Remarks
1 November 19, 1999
22:30		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 1 LEO N/A Success First uncrewed test of the Shenzhou spacecraft
2 January 9, 2001
17:00		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 2 LEO N/A Success Second uncrewed test of the Shenzhou spacecraft, carried live animals
3 March 25, 2002
14:15		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 3 LEO N/A Success Third uncrewed test of the Shenzhou spacecraft
4 December 29, 2002
16:40		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 4 LEO N/A Success Final uncrewed test of the Shenzhou spacecraft prior to flying with crew
5 October 15, 2003
01:00		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 5 LEO Yang Liwei Success China's first crewed spaceflight
6 October 12, 2005
01:00		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 6 LEO Fei Junlong
Nie Haisheng		 Success Second crewed spaceflight, first with two astronauts
7 September 25, 2008
13:10		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 7 LEO Zhai Zhigang
Liu Boming
Jing Haipeng		 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 N/A 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 N/A Success Uncrewed spaceflight to test automatic rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1
10 June 16, 2012
10:37		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 9 LEO Jing Haipeng
Liu Wang
Liu Yang 		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 Nie Haisheng
Zhang Xiaoguang
Wang Yaping		 Success Three crew members; rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1
12 September 15, 2016
14:04		 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Tiangong 2 LEO N/A 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 Jing Haipeng
Chen Dong 		Success Two crew members;[12] rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-2 for a 30-day mission.
14 May 2020 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Experimental space plane LEO N/A Planned Test flight of an Experimental space plane[13]
15 2021 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 12 LEO TBA
TBA
TBA		 Planned Two to three crew members; planned to vist the Tianhe-1, the first module of the Chinese Space Station[14]
16 2021-22 LA-4/SLS-1, JSLC Shenzhou 13 LEO TBA
TBA
TBA		 Planned Two to three crew members; planned to vist the Tianhe-1, to continue construction of the space station

References
  1. Mark Wade. "CZ-2F". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  2. "LM-2F - Launch Vehicle". CGWIC. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  3. "CZ". Astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  4. "China to launch Shenzhou-7 spacecraft on Thursday". news.xinhuanet.com. English Xinhua. 2008-09-24. Archived from the original on 2009-07-05. 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. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
  7. Archived May 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  8. 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. Zinger, Kurtis J. (2014). "An Overreaction that Destroyed an Industry: The Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Satellite Export Controls" (PDF). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. "CZ-2E Space Launch Vehicle". GlobalSecurity.org.
  12. Huang, Jin (8 March 2016). "Why will Shenzhou-11 carry only two astronauts to space?". People's Daily Online. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  13. https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=50274.msg2079224#new
  14. https://spacenews.com/chinese-space-program-insights-emerge-from-national-peoples-congress/
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