Tianlian 2-03 | Long March 3B/E

Featured image credit: Xinhua / Zhu Zheng

Lift Off Time	July 12, 2022 – 16:30 UTC July 13, 2022 – 00:30 BJT
Mission Name	Tianlian 2-03
Launch Provider (What rocket company launched it?)	China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT)
Customer (Who paid for this?)	China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)
Rocket	Long March 3B/E
Launch Location	Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, China
Payload mass	Maximum of 5,500 kg to GTO
Where did the satellite go?	Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO)
Did they attempt to recover the first stage?	No, this is not a capability of the Long March 3B/E
Where did the first stage land?	It crashed on land in mainland China
Did they attempt to recover the fairings?	No, this is not a capability of the Long March 3B/E
Were these fairings new?	Yes
This was the:	– 23rd China’s orbital launch of 2022 – 143rd flight of a Long March 3 (any variant) – 81st orbital launch attempt of 2022 (79th successful)
Where to re-watch	If available, an official replay will be listed here

How Did It Go?

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) successfully launched the Tianlian 2-03 satellite atop a Long March 3B/E rocket, marking China’s third successful launch of the Tianlian-2 satellites. The satellite joins the two other Tianlian-2 satellites currently in geostationary orbit (GEO), providing communications coverage for the Shenzhou missions and the Tiangong Space Station.

Tianlian 2-03 Mission

Tianlian-2 is a series of tracking and data relay satellites. They form a constellation in GEO and support other satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO). The system is also used to communicate between the Chinese Space Station and Beijing.

The first generation of Tianlian satellites (Tianlian-1) were built around the DFH-3 satellite bus (a three-axis-stabilized telecommunications satellite platform), and functionally the series is similar to the United States Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System. It used S-band radio with 2 GHz frequency. Each of the Tianlian-1 satellites were launched atop a Long March 3C rocket into a GEO. 

In contrast, Tianlian-2 was developed around the DFH-4 satellite bus produced by the China Academy of Space Technology. It uses K-band radio with a frequency in excess of 20 GHz and is able to connect to more spacecraft at the same time. The Tianlian-2 satellites are supporting rendezvous, docking operations, and spacewalks at China’s Tiangong space station, as well as communication between astronauts and ground stations. The Tianlian 2-01 was launched on 31 March 2019 and the Tianlian 2-02 on 14 December 2021.

What Is The Long March 3B/E?

Despite the Chinese rockets having different heritages, most of China’s orbital launch vehicles use the “Long March” (Chang Zheng) naming scheme. The Long March 3B is a three stage rocket, with an optional fourth stage. The rocket has four liquid-fueled side boosters, and first launched in 1996.

The Long March 3B/E, the enhanced version of the Long March 3B, was first launched in 2007 and has greater Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) payload capacity. The enhanced 3B/E rockets have a larger first stage and larger side boosters, compared to the original Long March 3B. As a result, its payload capacity to GTO increased from 5,100 kg to 5,500 kg.

The Long March 3B series features the following sections or stages:

• Side boosters
• First (center) stage (ignited at launch)
• Second stage
• Third stage
• Optional fourth stage

Second Stage

The second stage is powered by a single YF-22E engine. However, attitude control is provided by a single YF-23 vernier engine, and combined, these engines are known as a YF-24 module. The engine runs on UDMH and N₂O₄ and produces 742 kN of thrust. The second stage is 12.9 m (42.3 ft) tall and burns for 185 seconds.

Optional Fourth Stage

The fourth stage runs on UDMH / N₂O₄, and has a singular YF-50D engine. On the Tianlian 2-03 mission, the fourth stage was not used.