CASC Long March 3B Apstar 2R
Long March 3B
Status
Success
Date
16 OCT 1997
19:13
Launch Provider
China Aerospace Corporation
Launch Pad
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2)
Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Mission Overview
Space Systems/Loral's (SS/L) Apstar-2R is one of the most powerful spacecraft in Asia-Pacific service. Launched in China in 1997 by APT Satellite Company, Ltd., the satellite offers regional voice, video, and data services to an area large enough to link Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region into a broad telecommunications network.
Rocket
Long March 3B
Mission Type
Communications
Orbit
Geostationary Orbit
Stages
3
Livestream
Not availableRocket Details
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.
Height
54.8 m
Diameter
3.35 m
Launch Mass
426 T
Thrust
5,923 kN