CZ-11 Space Launch Vehicle

The Chang-11 rocket is a four-stage solid launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. Long March 11 is 20.8 meters long, has a diameter of 2 m and a liftoff weight of 58 metric tons. It is capable of sending payloads of 700 kilograms to a low-Earth orbit or 400 kg to a Sun-synchronous orbit 700 kilometers above the ground.

Long March 11 adopts the international universal star and arrow interface, which can meet the diverse launch requirements of different mission loads and different orbits. The rocket system is composed of a solid carrier rocket and a launch support system. The first stage adopts China's largest solid rocket motor with the largest scale and thrust, which can further the development of large solid motors and solid booster technology for launch vehicles.

The rocket has the characteristics of overall storage, simple operation, low launch cost, and short launch period. Its biggest advantage is "fast, convenient, and flexible". It can achieve rapid satellite networking and patching, which can well meet natural disasters and emergency launch requirements.

The system consists of a solid launch vehicle and a launch support system. The first stage uses China's largest solid rocket motor with the largest scale and thrust. It can be stored as a whole, is simple to operate, has low launch cost, and the launch cycle is calculated in hours. The biggest advantage is "fast, convenient, and flexible". It can realize rapid satellite networking and patching, which can well meet natural disasters and other emergency launch requirements.

The "Chang Eleven" low-Earth orbit carrying capacity of hundreds of kilograms can meet the launch requirements of more than 80% of small satellites, and the launch of small satellites can save orbit coordination, structural coordination, and electromagnetic compatibility coordination that need to be solved for launching. And other issues.

"Long Eleven" can provide the most optimized and flexible launch services for small satellites, so that small satellites also have the priority enjoyed by the main payload and obtain personalized customized services. Coupled with the "Chang Eleven" unique ability to flexibly choose the launch site, it can send satellites into target orbits that are difficult to reach due to the measurement and control of the existing launch site and the range of the landing zone. The emergence of "Long Eleventh" can greatly expand the application range of my country's small spacecraft.

In October 2010, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation approved the Chang-11 rocket as an internal model. The Long March-11, developed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology ( the Academy of Rocket Motors Technology) affiliated to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. It was the only rocket using solid propellants among China's new generation carrier rockets. The CZ-11 project makes most of the Chinese solid rocket motors for decades, including the motors for the DF-31 ICBM, the JL-2 SLBM, and also SRMs for satellites. This type of rocket is known as the "quick-response arrow" in the Long March series of carrier rockets. It was mainly used to carry small satellites and can take multiple satellites into orbit at the same time.

Compared with other carrier rockets, its technical characteristics are distinctive. China's first launch vehicle using solid fuel would improve China's ability to loft military satellites on short notice thanks to its solid fuel, was due to fly under the designation Long March 11. China's first solid-fuel rocket Long March-11 was expected to make its first launch before 2016, a senior official of the rocket's designing institute Xinhua reported 02 March 2013. Liang Xiaohong, deputy head of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, said the rocket would be easy to operate and cost-efficient to launch. It can remain in storage for long period and reliably launch on short notice.

"The development of the Long March-11 will greatly improve China's capabilities to rapidly enter the space and meet the emergency launching demand in case of disasters and emergencies," he told Xinhua on March 04, 2013. The Long March-11 rocket system consists of a solid-fuel rocket and a launching support system. It will apply China's largest solid-fuel rocket engine, he said. China has made more than 160 launching of liquid-fuel rockets successfully but was yet to make breakthrough on the development of the solid-fuel rockets.

The carrier rocket would be easy to operate and cost-efficient to launch, and it can be stored for long periods to launch at short notice. "If a major earthquake - like the one that rocked Wenchuan of Sichuan province in 2008 - strikes again, we will be able to quickly send satellites into space that can take photos of the devastated area and help with rescue work," Liang said.

Liang expected the next generation of carrier rockets would operate together with earlier models to serve space missions for the next 10 to 20 years. "A new launch vehicle will not be fully reliable until it carries out at least 10 missions where hidden problems can be exposed and fixed. Sometimes, even after a model has carried out many missions, deeper technical problems will not emerge until it encounters special situations in space," he said.

Its first flight was in September 2015 at the Jiuquan center when it lifted four satellites to a Sun-synchronous orbit. The second flight took place in November 2016 at the same center, sending an X-ray pulsar navigation satellite and four small experimental satellites into orbit.

China launched a Long March 11 carrier rocket on 19 January 2018 to send six satellites into space, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. The mission marked the first time that a Chinese solid-propellant rocket has been used to service a foreign client, the academy, which developed and built the rocket. The Long March 11 blasted off at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China at 12: 12 pm and later put six small satellites — two Earth-observation satellites made by a State-owned firm, three experimental satellites from Chinese private companies as well as an unidentified one from a Canadian company — into orbit. This was the third mission of Long March 11 and the 264th of the Long March family, according to the academy.

The Long March 11 rocket was developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation's China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (First Institute of Aerospace) and codenamed LM-11 or CZ-11. It is a Class 4 solid fuel carrier rocket and is mainly used to respond to emergencies. Micro-satellites, such as natural disasters, even launch satellites when the satellites are attacked by the enemy.

Future warfare will rely heavily on satellites, and it will be necessary to temporarily launch satellites to enhance communication capabilities or replace damaged satellites. Such temporary satellites are generally small in weight and short in life, but require high launch response speed. In this case, the period of using the conventional launch mode is too long, and the space launch base is also vulnerable to attack. The use of mobile launch vehicles is much safer and faster. The launch vehicles and satellites can be manufactured and long-lived in normal times. The combination of the two drives the launch vehicle from the secret storage site to the field, and the satellite can be sent to the sky within 24 hours.