Overview
Manufacturer: CALT
Cost: $30 million
Stages: 2
Height: 41.056 m (134.7 ft)
Diameter: 3.35 m (11 ft)
Mass: 232,250 kgs (512,020 lbs)
Payload capacity (to low earth orbit): 3,500 kgs (7,700 lbs)
Maiden flight: August 9, 1992
Stage 1
Length: 27.91 m
Engine: 4x YF-21C
Fuel: N2O4/UDMH
Thrust: 2,961.6 kN (665,800 lbf)
Stage 2
Length: 10.9 m
Engine: 1x YF-24C
Fuel: N2O4/UDMH
Thrust: 742.04 kN (166,820 lbf)
The Long March 2D is the smallest of the active Long March rockets measuring just under a half a meter shorter than its cousin the 2C. Since its first launch in August 1992, the Long March 2D has had an almost perfect launch record with a partial failure in December 2016 the only incident to blemish its near perfect record.
Despite its designation, the 2-stage design of the Long March 2D has more in common with the Long March 4 series on which it was based than the 2. However, its lack of control fins and the cage-like structure separating the first and second stage mean that the Long March 2D has visually more in common with the 2 series, thus the designation.
