The Long March 3B (), also known as the CZ-3B and LM-3B, is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle. 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 the heaviest variant of the Long March 3 rocket family, and is mainly used to place communications satellites and navigation satellites into geosynchronous orbits.

An enhanced version, the Long March 3B/E or G2, was introduced in 2007 to increase the rocket's geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) cargo capacity and lift heavier geosynchronous orbit (GEO) communications satellites. The Long March 3B also served as the basis for the medium-capacity Long March 3C, which was first launched in 2008.

, the Long March 3B, 3B/E and 3B/G5 have conducted 110 successful launches, plus 2 failures and 2 partial failures, accumulating a success rate of . It is the first Long March series rocket to accumulate 100 orbital launches.

History The development of the Long March 3B began in 1986 to meet the needs of the international GEO communications satellite market. During its maiden flight, on 14 February 1996 carrying the Intelsat 708 satellite, the rocket suffered a guidance failure two seconds into the flight and destroyed a nearby town, killing at least six people, but outside estimates suggest that anywhere between 200 and 500 people might have been killed. However, the author of the report later ruled out large casualties, because evidence suggest that the crash site was evacuated before the launch.

The Long March 3B and 3B/E rockets conducted ten successful launches between 1997 and 2008.

In 1997, the Agila 2 satellite was forced to use onboard propellant to reach its correct orbit because of poor injection accuracy on the part of its Long March 3B launch vehicle.International reference guide to space launch systems. Fourth edition. p. 243. In 2009, a Long March 3B partially failed during launch due to a third stage anomaly, which resulted in the Palapa-D satellite reaching a lower orbit than planned. Nonetheless, the satellite was able to maneuver itself into the planned orbit. The Long March 3B and its variants remain in active use , having conducted a total of 26 consecutive successful launches, since 19 June 2017 until 9 March 2020.

In December 2013, a Long March 3B/E successfully lifted Chang'e 3, China's first Lunar lander and rover into the projected lunar-transfer orbit.

In April 2020, the third stage of the Long March 3B/E failed during a Palapa-N1 communications satellite mission; this was the first total failure of the Long March 3B/E.

Design and variants The Long March 3B is based on the Long March 3A as its core stage, with four liquid boosters strapped on the first stage. It has a low Earth orbit (LEO) cargo capacity of and a GTO capacity is .

Long March 3B/E The Long March 3B/E, also known as 3B/G2, is an enhanced variant of the Long March 3B, featuring an enlarged (taller) first stage and boosters, increasing its GTO payload capacity to . Its maiden flight took place on 13 May 2007, when it successfully launched Nigeria's NigComSat-1, the first African geosynchronous communications satellite. In 2013, it successfully launched China's first lunar lander Chang'e 3 and lunar rover Yutu.

Since 2015, the Long March 3B and 3C can optionally accommodate a YZ-1 upper stage, which has been used to carry dual launches or BeiDou navigation satellites into medium Earth orbit (MEO).

Long March 3C

A modified version of the Long March 3B, the Long March 3C, was developed in the mid-1990s to bridge the gap in payload capacity between the Long March 3B and 3A. It is almost identical to the Long March 3B, but has two boosters instead of four, giving it a reduced GTO payload capacity of . Its maiden launch took place on 25 April 2008.

Launch statistics Just for LM-3 and 3B/E (excludes LM-3C).

List of launches

Flight number Serial number Date (UTC) Launch site Version Payload Orbit Result 1 Y1 14 February 199619:01 XSLC, LA-2 3B Intelsat 708 GTO 2 Y2 19 August 199717:50 XSLC, LA-2 3B Agila-2 GTO 3 Y3 16 October 199719:13 XSLC, LA-2 3B APStar 2R GTO 4Y530 May 199810:00XSLC, LA-23BChinastar 1GTO5Y418 July 199809:20XSLC, LA-23BSinoSat 1GTO6Y612 April 200512:00XSLC, LA-23BAPStar 6GTO7Y728 October 200616:20XSLC, LA-23BSinoSat 2GTO8Y913 May 200716:01XSLC, LA-23B/ENigComSat-1GTO9Y105 July 200712:08XSLC, LA-23BChinaSat 6BGTO10Y119 June 200812:15XSLC, LA-23BChinaSat 9GTO11Y1229 October 200816:53XSLC, LA-23B/EVenesat-1GTO12Y831 August 200909:28XSLC, LA-23BPalapa-DGTO13Y134 September 201016:14XSLC, LA-23B/ESinoSat 6GTO14Y2020 June 201116:13XSLC, LA-23B/EChinaSat 10GTO15Y1911 August 201116:15XSLC, LA-23B/EPaksat-1RGTO16Y1618 September 201116:33XSLC, LA-23B/EChinaSat 1AGTO17Y187 October 201108:21XSLC, LA-23B/EEutelsat W3CGTO18Y2119 December 201116:41XSLC, LA-23B/ENigComSat-1RGTO19Y2231 March 201210:27XSLC, LA-23B/EAPStar 7GTO20Y1429 April 201220:50XSLC, LA-23BCompass-M3Compass-M4MEO21Y1726 May 201215:56XSLC, LA-23B/EChinaSat 2AGTO22Y1518 September 201219:10XSLC, LA-23BCompass-M5Compass-M6MEO23Y2427 November 201210:13XSLC, LA-23B/EChinaSat 12GTO24Y251 May 201316:06XSLC, LA-23B/EChinaSat 11GTO25Y231 December 201317:30XSLC, LA-23B/EChang'e 3TLI26Y2720 December 201316:42XSLC, LA-23B/ETúpac Katari 1GTO27Y2625 July 201512:29XSLC, LA-23B/E + YZ-1BeiDou M1-SBeiDou M2-SMEO28Y3212 September 201515:42XSLC, LA-23B/ETJS-1GTO29Y3329 September 201523:13XSLC, LA-33B/EBeiDou I2-SGTO30Y3616 October 201516:16XSLC, LA-23B/EAPStar 9GTO31Y343 November 201516:25XSLC, LA-33B/EChinaSat 2CGTO32Y3820 November 201516:07XSLC, LA-23B/ELaoSat-1GTO33Y319 December 201516:46XSLC, LA-33B/EChinaSat 1CGTO34Y3728 December 201516:04XSLC, LA-23B/EGaofen 4GTO35Y2915 January 201616:57XSLC, LA-33B/EBelintersat-1GTO36Y355 August 201616:22XSLC, LA-33B/ETiantong 1-01GTO37Y4210 December 201616:11XSLC, LA-33B/EFengyun-4AGTO38Y395 January 201715:18XSLC, LA-23B/ETJS-2GTO39Y4312 April 201711:04XSLC, LA-23B/EShijian 13GTO40Y2819 June 201716:11XSLC, LA-23B/EChinasat 9AGTO41Y465 November 201711:45XSLC, LA-23B/E + YZ-1BeiDou-3 M1BeiDou-3 M2MEO42Y4010 December 201716:40XSLC, LA-23B/EAlcomsat-1GTO43Y4511 January 201823:18XSLC, LA-23B/E + YZ-1BeiDou-3 M7BeiDou-3 M8MEO44Y4712 February 201805:03XSLC, LA-23B/E + YZ-1BeiDou-3 M3BeiDou-3 M4MEO45Y4829 March 201817:56XSLC, LA-23B/E + YZ-1BeiDou-3 M9BeiDou-3 M10MEO46Y553 May 201816:06XSLC, LA-23B/EApstar 6CGTO47Y4929 July 201801:48XSLC, LA-33B/E + YZ-1BeiDou-3 M5BeiDou-3 M6MEO48Y5024 August 201823:52XSLC, LA-33B/E + YZ-1BeiDou-3 M11BeiDou-3 M12MEO49Y5119 September 201814:07XSLC, LA-33B/E + YZ-1BeiDou-3 M13BeiDou-3 M14MEO50Y5215 October 201804:23XSLC, LA-33B/E + YZ-1BeiDou-3 M15BeiDou-3 M16MEO51Y411 November 201815:57XSLC, LA-23B/EBeiDou-3 G1GTO52Y5318 November 201818:07XSLC, LA-33B/E + YZ-1BeiDou-3 M17BeiDou-3 M18MEO53Y307 December 201818:23XSLC, LA-23B/EChang'e 4TLI54Y5610 January 201917:11XSLC, LA-23B/EChinaSat 2DGTO55Y549 March 201916:28XSLC, LA-33B/EChinaSat 6CGTO56Y4431 March 201915:51XSLC, LA-23B/ETianlian II-01GTO57Y5920 April 201914:41XSLC, LA-33B/EBeiDou-3 I1GTO58Y6024 June 201918:09XSLC, LA-33B/EBeiDou-3 I2GTO59Y5819 August 201912:03XSLC, LA-23B/EChinaSat 18GTO60Y6522 September 201921:10XSLC, LA-23B/E + YZ-1BeiDou-3 M23BeiDou-3 M24 MEO61Y5717 October 201915:21XSLC, LA-33B/ETJS-4GTO62Y614 November 201917:43XSLC, LA-23B/EBeiDou-3 I3GTO63Y6623 November 201900:55XSLC, LA-33B/E + YZ-1BeiDou-3 M21BeiDou-3 M22 MEO64Y6716 December 201907:22XSLC, LA-33B/E + YZ-1BeiDou-3 M19BeiDou-3 M20 MEO 65 Y62 7 January 202015:20 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E TJS-5 GTO 66 Y69 9 March 202011:55 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E BeiDou-3 G2 GTO 67 Y71 9 April 202011:46 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Palapa-N1 (Nusantara Dua) GTO 68 Y68 23 June 202001:43 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E BeiDou-3 G3 GTO 69 Y64 9 July 202012:11 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Apstar 6D GTO 70 Y63 11 October 202016:57 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Gaofen-13 GTO 71 Y73 12 November 202015:59 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Tiantong 1-02 GTO 72 Y70 6 December 202003:58 XSLC, LA-3 3B/E Gaofen-14 SSO 73 Y74 19 January 202116:25 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Tiantong 1-03 GTO 74 Y77 4 February 202115:36 XSLC, LA-3 3B/E TJS-6 GTO 75 Y72 2 June 202116:17 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Fengyun 4B GTO 76 Y76 5 August 202116:30 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E ChinaSat 2E GTO 77 Y78 24 August 202115:41 XSLC, LA-3 3B/E TJS-7 GTO 78 Y86 9 September 202111:50 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E ChinaSat 9B GTO 79 Y81 27 September 202108:20 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Shiyan 10 GTO 80 Y83 24 October 202101:27:03 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Shijian-21 GTO 81 Y79 26 November 202116:40:04 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E ChinaSat 1D GTO 82 Y82 13 December 202116:09 XSLC, LA-3 3B/E Tianlian II-02 GTO 83 Y84 29 December 202116:43 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E TJS-9 GTO 84 Y89 15 April 202212:00 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E ChinaSat 6D GTO 85 Y85 12 July 202216:30 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Tianlian II-03 GTO 86 Y91 5 November 202211:50 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E ChinaSat 19 GTO 87 Y88 29 December 202204:43 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Shiyan 10-02 GTO 88 Y93 23 February 202311:49 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E ChinaSat 26 GTO 89 Y90 17 March 202308:33 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Gaofen 13-02 GTO 90 Y87 17 May 202302:49 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E BeiDou-3 G4 GTO 91 Y92 12 August 202317:26 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Ludi Tance-4 01A GTO 92 Y94 9 November 202311:23 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E ChinaSat 6E GTO 93 Y75 26 December 202303:26 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E + YZ-1 BeiDou-3 M26BeiDou-3 M28 MEO 94 Y95 29 February 202413:03 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Weixing Hulianwang Gaogui-01 GTO 95 Y96 9 May 202401:43 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Zhihui Tianwang 1-01AZhihui Tianwang 1-01B MEO 96 Y98 30 May 202412:12 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Paksat-MM1R GTO 97 Y97 1 August 202413:14 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Weixing Hulianwang Gaogui-02 GTO 98 Y80 19 September 202401:14 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E + YZ-1 BeiDou-3 M25BeiDou-3 M27 MEO 99 Y100 10 October 202413:50 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Weixing Hulianwang Gaogui-03 GTO 100 Y103 3 December 202405:56 XSLC, LA-3 3B/E TJS-13 GTO 101 Y99 20 December 202415:12 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E TJS-12 GTO 102 Y104 6 January 202520:00 XSLC, LA-3 3B/E Shijian-25 GTO 103 Y105 23 January 2025<br/ >15:32 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E TJS-14 GTO 104 Y101 22 February 202512:11 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E ChinaSat 10R GTO 105 Y102 9 March 202517:17 XSLC, LA-3 3B/E TJS-15 GTO 106 Y108 26 March 2025<br/ >15:55 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Tianlian II-04 GTO 107 Y107 10 April 2025<br/ >16:47 XSLC, LA-3 3B/E TJS-17 GTO 108 Y109 27 April 202515:54 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Tianlian II-05 GTO 109 Y110 28 May 202517:31 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Tianwen-2 Heliocentric 110 Y111 20 June 2025<br/ >12:37 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E ChinaSat 9C GTO 111 Y? 26 October 202503:55 XSLC, LA-3 3B/E Gaofen-14 02 SSO 112 Y? 21 November 202510:55 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E TJS-21 Molniya 113 Y? 9 December 202515:08 XSLC, LA-3 3B/E TJS-22 GTO 114 Y? 26 December 202516:07 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Fengyun 4C GTO 115 Y? 16 January 202616:55 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Shijian-32 GTO 116 Y? 16 June 202609:45 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Shijian-31 GTO 117 Y? 23 July 202612:00 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E Tianlian II-06 GTO Y? 2027 XSLC, LA-2 3B/E ChinaSat 27 GTO

Notable payloads Intelsat 708 Beidou Chang'e 3 Chang'e 4 Tianwen-2 Eutelsat W3C TJS-5 Apstar 6C Chinasat 9A Chinasat 6C Palapa-D Fengyun 4B NigComSat-1 Tiantong 1–03 Gaofen 14

Flight mishaps and anomalies Intelsat 708 launch failure

On 14 February 1996, the launch of the first Long March 3B with Intelsat 708 failed just after liftoff when the launch vehicle veered off course and exploded when it hit the ground at T+23 seconds.

The Xinhua news agency reported that six people were killed and 57 injured. However, the Americans on hand for the launch have testified that "dozens, if not hundreds", of people were seen to gather outside the centre's main gate near the crash site the night before launch. When reporters were being taken away from the site, they found that most buildings had sustained serious damage or had been flattened completely. Other eyewitnesses were noted as having seen dozens of ambulances and many flatbed trucks, loaded with what could have been human remains, being taken to the local hospital.