Long March 5

Quick Facts About Long March 5.

- Type: Orbital heavy-lift launch vehicle.

- Origin : China.

- Manufacturer: CALT.

- In service : 3 November 2016 - Active.

- Mass : 854,500 kg (1,883,900 lb).

- Length/Height : 56.97 m (186.9 ft).

- Diameter : 5 m (16 ft).

- Payload to LEO : 25,000 kg (55,000 lb).

- Payload to GTO : 14,500 kg (32,000 lb).

- Payload to TLI : 8,800–9,400 kg (19,400–20,700 lb).

- Payload to GEO : 6,000 kg (13,000 lb).

- PAyload to SSO : 15,000 kg (33,000 lb).

- Propellant: Boosters: RP-1 / LOX. First/Second stage: LH2 / LOX. Third stage(Optional): N2O4 / UDMH.

- Engines: Boosters(CZ-5-300): 4 x 2 YF-77 P241 with thrust of 9,600 kN (2,200,000 lbf). First stage(CZ-5-500): 2 × YF-77 with thrust of 1,020 kN (230,000 lbf) (Sea level). Second stage(CZ-5-HO) : 2 × YF-75D with thrust of 176.72 kN (39,730 lbf). Third stage(YZ-2 optional): 2 x YF-50D with thrust of 6.5 kN (1,500 lbf).

The Long March 5 is the first Chinese launch vehicle designed to use exclusively non-hypergolic liquid propellants. It is the fifth iteration of the Long March rocket family, named for the Chinese Red Army's 1934–35 Long March, during the Chinese Civil War.

There are currently two CZ-5 variants: CZ-5 and CZ-5B.

The Long March 5 roughly matches the capabilities of American NSSL heavy-lift launch vehicles such as the Delta IV Heavy. It is currently the most powerful member of the Long March rocket family and the world's third most powerful orbital launch vehicle currently in operation, trailing the Falcon Heavy and Delta IV Heavy.

The first CZ-5 launched from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on 3 November 2016 and placed its payload in a suboptimal but workable initial orbit. The second CZ-5 rocket, launched on 2 July 2017, failed due to an engine problem in the first stage.

After an interval of almost two and a half years, the Long March 5 vehicle's return to flight mission (third launch) successfully occurred on 27 December 2019 with the launch and placement of the experimental Shijian-20 communications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit, thereby opening the way for the successful launch of Tianwen 1 Mars mission, lunar Chang'e 5 sample-return mission, and the modular space station, which require the lifting capabilities of a heavy lift launch vehicle.