The Long March 2D Launch Vehicle

The LM-2D is a newly developedtwo-stage vehicle.Designed on thebasis of the LM-4’s first twostages,the LM-2D is the most pow-erful one in China’s two-stage vehi-cles.The high payload capacity isachieved mainly through enlargingthe tanks and increasing the thrustof the engines in its first stage.Other features of the rocket includeprecise orbit insertion,high reliabil-ity and improved cost-effective-ness.The launch vehicle success-fully made its maiden flight onAug.9,1992 from the JiuquanSatellite Launch Center in GansuProvince,putting China’s first ofthe second generation recoverable