Palapa-D

Rocket

Long March 3B – China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

Family: Long March 3
Length: 54.8 m
Diameter: 3.35 m
Launch Mass: 426 T
Low Earth Orbit Capacity: 11500 kg

The Long March 3B was manufactured by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation with the first launch on 1996-02-14. Long March 3B has 22 successful launches and 3 failed launches with a total of 25 launches. 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.

Agency

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

Type: Government
Abbreviation: CASC
Administration: Chairman & President: Lei Fanpei
Founded: 1999
Launchers: Long March

Country: CHN

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is the main contractor for the Chinese space program. It is state-owned and has a number of subordinate entities which design, develop and manufacture a range of spacecraft, launch vehicles, strategic and tactical missile systems, and ground equipment. It was officially established in July 1999 as part of a Chinese government reform drive, having previously been one part of the former China Aerospace Corporation. Various incarnations of the program date back to 1956.