Long March 5B

Active

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)

May 5, 2020

Description

The configuration of the CZ-5B variant consists of the Long March 5 core stage with its four strapped-on liquid-fueled boosters, but the usual second stage will be absent; in place of the second stage would be heavier low earth orbit payloads.

Specifications
  • Stages
    1
  • Length
    53.66 m
  • Diameter
    5.0 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    5.0 m
  • Launch Mass
    837.0 T
  • Thrust
    10565.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Long March 5B
  • Family
  • Variant
    B
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Long March 5B
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
  • Low Earth Orbit
    25000.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

Government
Chairman & President: Lei Fanpei
CASC 1999

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.

Upcoming Spaceflights


Long March 5B | Xuntian Telescope

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation | China
Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China
TBD December, 2027
Status: To Be Determined
Mission:

Xuntian, formerly known as the Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST), is a Chinese space telescope designed to perform high-resolution, large-area, multi-band imaging and slit-less spectroscopy surveys of the sky at ultraviolet to infrared wavelengths of 255 – 1000 nm. The survey camera is slated to cover approximately 17500 square degrees of the sky in various bands, reaching maximum magnitudes of about 26. Xuntian will carry a survey camera, a tera-hertz receiver, a multi-channel imager, an integral field spectrograph, and a cool planet imaging coronagraph. Xuntian will be launched to a Low Earth Orbit that will be co-orbiting with the Tiangong space station/Chinese Space Station, which will allow for periodic docking with the station for regular maintenance by astronauts.

Low Earth Orbit
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Long March 5B | Mengtian

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation | China
Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China
Oct. 31, 2022, 7:37 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Mengtian is the second Laboratory Cabin Module (LCM) and third major component of the Chinese spacestation. It will provide a pressurized environment for researchers to conduct science experiments in zero gravity.

Low Earth Orbit
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Long March 5B | Wentian

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation | China
Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China
July 24, 2022, 6:22 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Wentian is the first Laboratory Cabin Module (LCM) and second major component of the Chinese spacestation. It will provide additional navigation avionics, propulsion and orientation control as backup functions for the Core Cabin Module (CCM) as well as a pressurized environment for researchers to conduct science experiments in zero gravity.

Low Earth Orbit
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Long March 5B | Tianhe

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation | China
Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China
April 29, 2021, 3:23 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Tianhe (which translates as "Heavenly Harmony") is the core module and backbone of the Chinese space station, designed to provide the main living quarters and control centre for the station crew.

Low Earth Orbit
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Long March 5B | Maiden Flight

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation | China
Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China
May 5, 2020, 10 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

This is the maiden flight of Long March 5B rocket, which is to be used for delivering modules for China's new space station. This launch is also the first test flight for China's new generation crewed spacecraft.

Low Earth Orbit
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Long March 3B/E
Success
2 days, 9 hours ago
Fengyun-4C
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

China's geostationary meteorological satellite program FY-4 (Feng Yun 4) is the second generation of chinese geostationary meteorological satellites.


Long March 8A
Success
3 days, 2 hours ago
SatNet LEO Group 17
Commercial LC-1 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

A batch of 9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group.…


Soyuz 2.1a
Success
3 days, 11 hours ago
Obzor-R No.1
43/4 (43R) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Assignment of payloads to this launch is uncertain. The Russian Obzor-R satellite is a planned X-band radar earth observation satellite desi…


LVM-3 (GSLV Mk III)
Success
4 days, 22 hours ago
BlueBird Block 2 #1
Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad - Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India

AST SpaceMobile’s Block 2 BlueBird satellites are designed to deliver up to 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the BlueBird Block 1 satellites, requi…


Long March 12A
Success
5 days, 23 hours ago
Demo Flight
Long March 12A Pad - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

First test launch of CASC/SAST’s Long March 12A rocket, with a dummy payload. The rocket’s 1st stage attempted to land on a landing pad about 300 km …