# Long March Rockets The Long March (Chang Zheng, 长征) rockets are [[China]]'s state launch vehicles, built by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). They are named after the [[Long March (China)]] of 1934–35, the retreat that became the founding legend of the [[Chinese Communist Party]], and the name is deliberate: the rockets are as much a national symbol as a transport system. Every Chinese astronaut, space station module, Moon probe and Mars mission has flown on one. ## From missiles to megaconstellations The first Long March flew on 24 April 1970, putting China's first satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1, into orbit. The satellite broadcast the Maoist anthem "The East Is Red" from space. Like the early American and Soviet rockets, the first Long Marches were adapted from ballistic missiles, and the line between China's military and civilian rocket programs has never been sharp. The family passed its 600th launch in October 2025. That year China conducted a record 92 orbital launches, with commercial companies flying more than half of them. Today's main versions: - **Long March 2F** — the crew rocket, which launches Shenzhou spacecraft to the Tiangong space station. - **Long March 3B** — the long-serving workhorse for satellites headed to high orbit. - **Long March 5** — the heavy-lifter behind the Chang'e 5 lunar sample return, the Tianwen-1 Mars mission and Tiangong's large modules. Its Long March 5B variant drew international criticism in 2020, 2021 and 2022 when its spent core stage fell back to Earth uncontrolled; [[NASA]] Administrator [[Bill Nelson]] accused China in 2021 of "failing to meet responsible standards." - **Long March 8A and others** — the medium rockets launching Guowang, China's state answer to [[Starlink]]. - **Long March 10** — the new Moon rocket. On 13 February 2026, a prototype first stage launched a prototype Mengzhou crew capsule from Wenchang, tested the capsule's emergency escape at peak aerodynamic stress, and brought the booster down to a controlled splashdown at sea. China's stated goal is to land two astronauts on [[The Moon]] before 2030. - **Long March 12A** — China's first state attempt at a reusable booster. On its first flight from Jiuquan on 23 December 2025, it reached orbit, but the booster's landing failed. Private Chinese companies are racing CASC to the same goal. ## The 1996 crash and the American export-control fight On 15 February 1996, a Long March 3B carrying the American-built Intelsat 708 satellite veered off course seconds after launch and crashed into a village near the Xichang launch site. China's official toll was six dead; other estimates ran much higher. Afterward, two U.S. satellite makers, Loral and Hughes, helped Chinese engineers review the failure. Congressional investigators concluded that the help had improved China's rocket reliability — knowledge with obvious relevance to ballistic missiles. The fallout went straight into American partisan politics. Loral's chairman, Bernard Schwartz, was among the largest personal donors to the Democratic Party, and Republicans charged that the [[Bill Clinton]] administration had eased satellite export rules to reward him. Congress responded by moving commercial satellites back under the strict munitions-export rules known as ITAR, effective in 1999, the same year a House select committee led by Rep. Christopher Cox published its report on Chinese acquisition of U.S. military technology. Loral (2002) and Boeing, which had bought Hughes's satellite business (2003), later paid civil penalties of $14 million and $32 million. No American satellite has launched on a Long March since. The episode helped build the export-control wall that the [[Chinese Space Program Hub]] describes, which later included the 2011 law barring NASA from working with China. ## Why it's on the map The Long March family is the backbone of the only space program that rivals the United States', and it is closing the one gap that matters most commercially: reusability. For the American right, Chinese launch capability is both a China-threat argument for defense and NASA spending and an awkward fact for those who cut science budgets. For everyone, it is a long-run test of the technology-denial strategy. The 1996 crash shut China out of the Western satellite market and out of American partnerships. Thirty years later, China launches more rockets than any country except the United States, almost entirely with its own technology. ## See also - [[Chinese Space Program Hub]] — Tiangong, Chang'e, Tianwen-1 and BeiDou - [[China]] · [[Chinese Communist Party]] — the state behind the rockets - [[Long March (China)]] — the 1934–35 retreat the rockets are named for - [[Space Launch Infrastructure]] — launch as a strategic chokepoint - [[SpaceX]] · [[Starlink]] — the American competition - [[Ariane]] · [[GSLV]] · [[H3 Rocket]] — the other national launchers - [[Space Hub]] — the parent hub