DRO-A/B

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Overview

Destination: Lunar Orbit
Mission: Technology

Lunar Orbit Launch Complex 3 (LC-3/LA-1) Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Two spacecraft by the Chinese Academy of Sciences designed to perform communication and navigation testing from a Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) around the Moon with a 3rd satellite in Low Earth Orbit.

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • March 14, 2024, 8:34 a.m.

Upper stage problem sent payload to wrong orbit; independent orbit determination results pending.


hitura-nobad • March 13, 2024, 2:41 p.m.

Liftoff confirmed


Cosmic_Penguin • March 11, 2024, 3:21 a.m.

Added launch per NOTAMs; launch vehicle and payload identities highly uncertain.


Long March 2C/YZ-1S

Family:
Configuration: C/YZ-1S

The Long March 2C is a family of expendable launch vehicles made and operated by China. It is a two stage launch vehicle with storable propellants, consisting of Nitrogen Tetroxide and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine.

Specifications
  • Stages
    3
  • Length
    42.0 m
  • Diameter
    3.35 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    3.35 m
  • Launch Mass
    233.0 T
  • Thrust
    2962.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Long March 2C/YZ-1S
  • Family
  • Variant
    C/YZ-1S
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Long March 2C/YZ-1S
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
  • Low Earth Orbit
    3850.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    1250.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity
    1400.0 kg

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

(CASC)

Chairman & President: Lei Fanpei Founded: 1999 Successes: 599 Failures: 16 Pending: 9

Agency Type:

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is the main contractor for the Chinese space program. It is state-owned and has a number of subordinate entities which design, develop and manufacture a range of spacecraft, launch vehicles, strategic and tactical missile systems, and ground equipment. It was officially established in July 1999 as part of a Chinese government reform drive, having previously been one part of the former China Aerospace Corporation. Various incarnations of the program date back to 1956.

INFO WIKI
SpaceNews

Chinese spacecraft appear to reach lunar orbit despite launch setback

HELSINKI — Two Chinese spacecraft appear to have successfully reached their intended lunar orbits despite an initial launch issue that left them stranded in low Earth orbit. A slide attributed […]

SpaceNews

China appears to be trying to save stricken spacecraft from lunar limbo

Tracking data appears to show China is attempting to salvage spacecraft initially intended for the moon but left stranded by a rocket stage malfunction.

Arstechnica

Rocket Report: Starship heats up in third flight; Chinese lunar launch failure

"Frustration with Artemis’s high price tag is justifiable."

The National

Surprise Chinese lunar mission hit by launch anomaly

A pair of Chinese spacecraft, apparently intended for lunar orbit, have potentially been lost following an issue with a Long March rocket's upper stage on Wednesday.

Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Launch Complex 3 (LC-3/LA-1)


Long March 2D
Success
8 hours, 10 minutes ago
PIESAT-2 13-16
Launch Complex 9 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

4 X-band synthetic-aperture radar Earth observation satellites for the Chinese Earth observation satellite company PIESAT.


Electron
Success
15 hours, 38 minutes ago
Owl By The Dozen (StriX Launch 12)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.


Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M
Success
2 days, 2 hours ago
Glonass-K1 No. 20 (?)
43/3 (43L) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Satellite serial number and Cosmos designation not confirmed. Glonass-K are the third generation of satellite design for GLONASS satellite n…


Kuaizhou 11
Success
2 days, 16 hours ago
SpaceTY-51 & 52
Launch Area 95A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

2 Earth observation radar satellites built by the Chinese satellite manufacturer SpaceTY.


Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 17 hours ago
USSF-259
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

USSF-259 is a classified mission for the United States Space Force. It is possibly a batch of classified LEO satellites based on SpaceX’s Starshield …


Long March 12
Success
2 days, 18 hours ago
SatNet LEO Group 25
Commercial LC-2 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

A batch of 9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group.…


Soyuz 2.1b
Success
3 days, 5 hours ago
Progress MS-35 (96P)
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station.


Gravity-1
Success
3 days, 21 hours ago
SpaceSail Polar Group #16
Yellow Sea (launch location 5) - Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites with Ku, Q and V band payloads for the G60 constellation operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies with …


Zhuque-2E Block 2
Success
4 days, 12 hours ago
SpaceSail Polar Group #15
Launch Area 96A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

10 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites with Ku, Q and V band payloads for the G60 constellation operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies with…


Vega-C
Success
4 days, 17 hours ago
Sentinel-3C & FLEX
Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV) - Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Sentinel-3C is the third satellite in the Sentinel-3 constellation, which provides high-accuracy optical, radar and altimetry data for marine and lan…