Launch Vehicles

Long March 3B

China

Citation Formats

General Reference

Space and Astronomy Atlas. "Long March 3B." Accessed September 1, 2026. https://dev-space.interactiveatlas.org/launch-vehicles/long-march-3b.

APA Style

Space and Astronomy Atlas. (n.d.). Long March 3B. Retrieved September 1, 2026, from https://dev-space.interactiveatlas.org/launch-vehicles/long-march-3b

BibTeX

@misc{spaceandastronomyatlas-long-march-3b,
  author = {Space and Astronomy Atlas},
  title = {Long March 3B},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-space.interactiveatlas.org/launch-vehicles/long-march-3b},
  note = {Accessed September 1, 2026}
}

China's most powerful launch vehicle for geostationary and lunar missions for many years, used to launch the Chang'e lunar probes and Beidou navigation satellites. Its 1996 debut flight ended in a catastrophic launch-pad failure that destroyed a nearby village, one of the deadliest incidents in launch history.

Facts

Vehicle Class

Heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle 1

Manufacturer

China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology 1

First Flight Date

1996-02-15 1

Date of its catastrophic debut failure; subsequent flights have been the mainstay of China's geostationary and lunar launch program.

Status

Operational, China's workhorse for geostationary-transfer and lunar missions. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Operated By

China National Space Administration

Source Encyclopedia Astronautica

Sources

1. Encyclopedia Astronautica

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