Long March 5

Long March 5

Function	Heavy-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	CALT
Country of origin	China
Cost per launch	~US$70 million [1]
Size
Height	56.97 m (186.9 ft) (standard) 63.2 m (207 ft) (extended fairing)
Diameter	5 m (16 ft)
Mass	851,800 kg (1,877,900 lb)
Stages	2
Payload to LEO
Altitude	200 km × 400 km (120 mi × 250 mi)
Mass	25,000 kg (55,000 lb) [2][3]
Payload to GTO
Mass	14,000 kg (31,000 lb) [2][3]
Payload to TLI
Mass	8,800–9,400 kg (19,400–20,700 lb)
Payload to GEO
Mass	5,100 kg (11,200 lb)
Payload to SSO
Altitude	700 km (430 mi)
Mass	15,000 kg (33,000 lb)
Payload to SSO
Altitude	2,000 km (1,200 mi)
Mass	6,700 kg (14,800 lb)
Payload to MEO
Mass	13,000 kg (29,000 lb)
Payload to TMI
Mass	6,000 kg (13,000 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	Long March
Comparable	Delta IV Falcon 9 Proton-M Angara A5
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Wenchang, LC-1
Total launches	12 CZ-5: 8 CZ-5B: 4
Success(es)	11 CZ-5: 7 CZ-5B: 4
Failure(s)	1 (CZ-5)
First flight	Long March 5: 3 November 2016[4] Long March 5B: 5 May 2020[5]
Last flight	Long March 5: 3 May 2024 Long March 5B: 31 October 2022
Type of passengers/cargo	Mengzhou, Chang'e 5, Tianwen 1, Tianhe, Wentian, Mengtian, Chang'e 6
Boosters – CZ-5-300
No. boosters	4
Height	27.6 m (91 ft)
Diameter	3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Gross mass	156,600 kg (345,200 lb)
Propellant mass	142,800 kg (314,800 lb)
Powered by	2 YF-100
Maximum thrust	Sea level: 2,400 kN (540,000 lbf) Vacuum: 2,680 kN (600,000 lbf)
Total thrust	9,600 kN (2,200,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	Sea level: 300 s (2.9 km/s) Vacuum: 335.1 s (3.286 km/s)
Burn time	173 seconds
Propellant	RP-1 / LOX
First stage – CZ-5-500
Height	33.16 m (108.8 ft)
Diameter	5 m (16 ft)
Gross mass	186,900 kg (412,000 lb)
Propellant mass	165,300 kg (364,400 lb)
Powered by	2 YF-77
Maximum thrust	Sea level: 1,036 kN (233,000 lbf) Vacuum: 1,400 kN (310,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	Sea level: 316.7 s (3.106 km/s) Vacuum: 428 s (4.20 km/s)
Burn time	492 seconds
Propellant	LH2 / LOX
Second stage (CZ-5) – CZ-5-HO
Height	11.54 m (37.9 ft)
Diameter	5 m (16 ft)
Gross mass	36,000 kg (79,000 lb)
Propellant mass	29,100 kg (64,200 lb)
Powered by	2 YF-75D
Maximum thrust	176.72 kN (39,730 lbf)
Specific impulse	442.6 s (4.340 km/s)
Burn time	700 seconds
Propellant	LH2 / LOX
Third stage – YZ-2 (Optional)
Diameter	3.8 m (12 ft)
Powered by	2 YF-50D
Maximum thrust	13 kN (2,900 lbf)
Specific impulse	316 s (3.10 km/s)
Burn time	1105 seconds
Propellant	N2O4 / UDMH
[edit on Wikidata]

Long March 5 (LM-5; Chinese: 长征五号; pinyin: Chángzhēng wǔ hào), or Changzheng 5 (CZ-5), and also by its nickname "Pang-Wu" (胖五, "Fat-Five"),^[6] is a Chinese heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). It is the first Chinese launch vehicle designed to use exclusively non-hypergolic liquid propellants.^[7] It is the fifth iteration of the Long March rocket family.

There are currently two CZ-5 variants: CZ-5 and CZ-5B. The maximum payload capacities are approximately 25,000 kg (55,000 lb) to low Earth orbit^[8] (for CZ-5B) and approximately 14,000 kg (31,000 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit (for CZ-5).^{[9][failed verification – see discussion]}

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 United States' Falcon Heavy and Space Launch System.^[10]

The first CZ-5 launched from Wenchang Space 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.^[11]

After an interval of almost two and a half years, the Long March 5 successfully returned to flight with its third launch on 27 December 2019, which placed the experimental Shijian-20 communications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit, thereby paving the way for the ultimately successful launch of the Tianwen 1 Mars mission, the lunar Chang'e 5 sample-return mission, and the modular space station,^[5] all of which required the lift capacity of a heavy lift launch vehicle.