Skip to content
EntityQ787531· pop 32· linked from 582 articles

Long March 5

Sign in to save

Also known as Changzheng 5, LM-5, CZ-5, Chang Zheng 5

Chinese next-generation heavy lift launch system

Key facts

Function
Heavy-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer
CALT
Country of origin
China
Cost per launch
~US$160 million
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)
Altitude
200 km × 400 km (120 mi × 250 mi)
Family
Long March
Comparable
Delta IV Falcon 9 Proton-M Angara A5
Status
Active
Launch sites
Wenchang , LC-1
Total launches
17 CZ-5: 10 CZ-5B: 7
Success es
16 CZ-5: 9 CZ-5B: 7
Failure
1 (CZ-5)
First flight
CZ-5: 3 November 2016 CZ-5B: 5 May 2020
Last flight
CZ-5: 20 December 2025 ( most recent ) CZ-5B: 13 August 2025 ( most recent )
Carries passengers or cargo
Mengzhou Chang'e Project Tiangong modules Hulianwang

via Wikipedia infobox

~14 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Long March 5 (LM-5; Chinese: 长征五号; pinyin: Chángzhēng wǔ hào) or Changzheng 5 (CZ-5), also known by its nickname "Pang-Wu" (胖五, "Fat-Five"), is a Chinese heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). The most powerful Chinese rocket and Long March rocket ever built, it is also the most powerful orbital launch vehicle operating outside of the United States. First launched in 2016, CZ-5 has carried cornerstones of the Chinese space program: all three modules of the Tiangong space station, two Moon sample returns, and one Mars mission.

There are 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 (for CZ-5B) and approximately 14,000 kg (31,000 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit (for CZ-5). This makes the CZ-5B the world's fifth most powerful orbital launch vehicle by payload to LEO and the CZ-5 the second most powerful by payload to GTO, comparable to the US Vulcan Centaur, ESA Ariane 6, and Russian Angara A5. The hydrolox core stage uses two YF-77 engines, while its four kerolox boosters each use two YF-100 engines, ultimately derived from the Soviet RD-120. The hydrolox second stage uses two YF-75D engines. The Yuanzheng-2 third stage, only used on the CZ-5 variant, is powered by two hypergolic N2O4/UDMH YF-50D engines.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Long March 5” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.