The Long March 4C was successfully launched

At 16:55 on August 17, 2025, the Long March 4A launch vehicle lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, successfully deploying the Shiyan-28B 02 satellite into the destination orbit, signaling a complete success of the launch mission. 

The Long March 4C launch vehicle executing this launch mission is a level 3 carrier rocket with liquid propellant of normal temperature developed by Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. It has excellent performance and can be used widely. The Long March 4C launch vehicle is capable of implementing flexible launch schemes tailored to different types of satellites, allowing it to launch various types of satellites for different orbits. It can carry out single satellite launches or simultaneous launches of multiple satellites, with a payload capacity of no less than 3 tons for deploying satellites into a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. 

According to the characteristics of this launch mission, the model team placed great emphasis on managing every detail of the work. They stressed the importance of ensuring handovers, strictly following the operating manuals, safeguarding the safety of both personnel and equipment, and paying close attention to the control of foreign objects and other critical steps. During the mission, which coincided with the rainy season, the vehicle team took measures to prevent the rocket from being affected by unexpected weather during transportation. While ensuring the quality of work in the technical area, they further shortened the time required for rocket airframe recovery, developed detailed plans in advance to accelerate the progress, and secured favorable conditions for flexibly scheduling the subsequent range transfer. Because the rocket remains on the ground for an extended period after propellant loading, measures shall be taken to protect it from rain and condensation to ensure that the propellant temperature meets the requirements during launch. Therefore, the model team took such measures as filling rainproof silicone at the structural connections between rocket sections, placing desiccant sand at cable connectors, and preparing risk mitigation plans in advance. 

Due to the extended pre-launch preparation period for this mission, the model team maintained round-the-clock shifts for over 24 hours to complete critical tasks such as propellant loading, propellant concentration monitoring, and condensation treatment, ensuring that the rocket remained in good condition and met all technical launch requirements. The model team also adopted a digital management approach and implemented a quality confirmation system and a daily task completion tracking system. At the launch site, all positions maintained complete work records, which were verified to ensure proper execution. These measures effectively improved the focus and efficiency of launch site quality management, while ensuring that the rocket’s functions and performance met all launch requirements. 

This launch mission is the 112^th launch of Long March 4 series of launch vehicles, the 242^nd launch of the Long March series of launch vehicles developed by Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, and the 589^th launch of China’s Long March series of launch vehicles.