At 13:27 on March 21, 2024,

the carrier system composed of the

Long March 2D launch vehicle/Yuanzheng-3 upper stage

successfully placed the Yunhai-2 satellite 02 into its destination orbit

at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center,

signaling a complete success of the launch mission.

The carrier system for this mission consists of the Long March 2D launch vehicle and Yuanzheng-3 upper stage with the former as the first stage and the later as the upper stage, both of which are developed by Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. 

Long March 2D launch vehicle is a level 2 carrier rocket with liquid propellant of normal temperature. It has a takeoff thrust of about 300 tons with a payload capacity of 1.3 tons for deploying satellites into a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit, and the single-satellite and multiple-satellite launching capabilities meeting the requirements of different orbits at Jiuquan, Taiyuan, and Xichang satellite launch centers.

Yuanzheng-3 upper stage is a new type of space transportation tool equipped with a 5kN main engine and an autonomous navigation and guidance system. It has the capability to perform autonomous rapid orbital maneuver deployments more than 20 times. It is primarily used for the deployment of multiple satellites on disparate orbits, and can place multiple satellites directly into their destination orbits. It plays a significant role in fast and flexible access to space, space maneuvering, and space utilization. 

Until this launch, five months have passed since the launch vehicle developed by Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology carried out the launch mission at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center last time. The test team accurately identified the risks and prioritized the restoration of the ground detection, launch and control system. They arranged for professional personnel to maintain the equipment to ensure the smooth progress of subsequent testing tasks. During the operations at the launch site, the model team emphasized and strengthened the comparison of test data. They conducted vertical comparisons of data from the general assembly and overall test with data from the launch site stage, while also compared them with historical envelopes, thus ensuring that the product status remains normal. 

It has been four months since the last mission of Yuanzheng-3 upper stage before this one. With the premise of ensuring comprehensive test coverage, the model team continuously improved and optimized the workflow, successfully reducing the launch site work cycle from 29 days to 25 days. Utilizing digital technology, the LDM digital management system was initially deployed on Yuanzheng-3 upper stage at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to carry out quality assurance tasks. Seven key tasks and seven reconfirmation tasks at the launch site were carried out in a closed loop, making the quality assurance work at the launch site more targeted and effective. The test team conducted a careful analysis, performing overall comparisons and trend analysis of test data from the technical and launch areas against historical test data, ensuring the stability of product performance. 

This launch mission is the 86^th launch of Long March 2D launch vehicle, the 3^rd launch of Yuanzheng-3 upper stage, the 204^th launch of the Long March series of launch vehicles developed by Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, as well as the 513^rd launch of the Long March series of launch vehicles.