The Long March 3C (simplified Chinese:长征三号丙火箭;traditional Chinese:長征三號丙火箭;pinyin:Chángzhēng Sānhào Bǐng Huǒjiàn), also known as the Changzheng 3C, CZ-3C and LM-3C, is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle. It is launched from Launch Complex 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC). A three-stage rocket with two strap-on liquid rocket boosters, it is a member of the Long March 3 rocket family, and was derived from the Long March 3B. It was designed to fill a gap in payload capacities between the Long March 3A and 3B.

Launch statistics

  • Failure
  • Partial failure
  • Success
  • Planned

Launches

It made its maiden flight on 25 April 2008, at 15:35 UTC. The payload for the first launch was the Tianlian I-01 data relay communications satellite. The second carried the Compass-G2 navigation satellite and was conducted on 14 April 2009. The third launch was made on 16 January 2010, with the Compass-G1 satellite. The fourth carrying the Compass-G3 navigation satellite was launched on 2 June 2010. On 1 October 2010, it successfully launched China's second lunar probe, Chang'e 2.

An enhanced version, named Long March 3C/E, debuted during the launch of Chang'e 5-T1 on 23 October 2014. On 30 March 2015, the Yuanzheng upper stage was used on top of a Long March 3C launch vehicle for the first time.

List of launches

Flight numberSerial numberDate (UTC)Launch siteVersionPayloadOrbitResult
1Y125 April 2008 15:35XSLC, LA-23CTianlian I-01GTOSuccess
2Y314 April 2009 16:16XSLC, LA-23CCompass-G2GTOSuccess
3Y216 January 2010 16:12XSLC, LA-23CCompass-G1GTOSuccess
4Y42 June 2010 15:53XSLC, LA-23CCompass-G3GTOSuccess
5Y71 October 2010 10:59XSLC, LA-23CChang'e 2LTOSuccess
6Y531 October 2010 16:26XSLC, LA-23CCompass-G4GTOSuccess
7Y811 July 2011 15:41XSLC, LA-23CTianlian I-02GTOSuccess
8Y624 February 2012 16:12XSLC, LA-23CCompass-G5GTOSuccess
9Y925 July 2012 15:43XSLC, LA-23CTianlian I-03GTOSuccess
10Y1025 October 2012 15:33XSLC, LA-23CCompass-G6GTOSuccess
11Y1223 October 2014 18:00XSLC, LA-23C/EChang'e 5-T1LTOSuccess
12Y1130 March 2015 13:52XSLC, LA-23C / YZ-1BDS I1-SGSOSuccess
13Y141 February 2016 07:29XSLC, LA-23C / YZ-1BDS M3-SMEOSuccess
14Y1512 June 2016 15:30XSLC, LA-33C/ECompass-G7GTOSuccess
15Y1322 November 2016 15:24XSLC, LA-23C/ETianlian I-04GTOSuccess
16Y1724 December 2018 16:53XSLC, LA-33C/ETJS-3GTOSuccess
17Y1617 May 2019 15:48XSLC, LA-23C/ECompass-G8GTOSuccess
18Y186 July 2021 15:53XSLC, LA-23C/ETianlian I-05GTOSuccess
19Y1912 May 2025 18:09XSLC, LA-33C/ETJS-19GTOSuccess
20Y20 (YZ-1 Y18)5 September 2025 02:34XSLC, LA-23C/E + YZ-1Shiyan 29GSOSuccess

See also