Beidou-3 M17 & M18

Long March 3B/YZ-1

The Long March 3B is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. Introduced in 1996, it is launched from Launch Area 2 and 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan. A three-stage rocket with four strap-on liquid rocket boosters, it is currently the most powerful member of the Long March rocket family and the heaviest of the Long March 3 rocket family, and is mainly used to place communications satellites into geosynchronous orbits.

Height

54.8 m

Diameter

3.35 m

Stages

3

Recorded launches

15

First flight

1996-02-14