On September 25, 2015, China launched its first Chang Zheng (CZ) 11 – a four-stage solid fuel rocket – from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. CZ-11 boosted at least four small satellites into near-polar low earth orbit.
CZ-11 launched at 01:41 UTC from a canister attached to a mobile transporter/erector in a manner similar to that used by Russia’s retired Start-1 launch vehicle, which was itself based on Russia’s Topol ICBM. The new launch vehicle was developed as a quick-reaction orbital launcher by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). The rocket is reportedly 20.8 meters long (other reports suggest 18.7 meters), and 2 meters in diameter with a 58 tonne launch mass and a 120 tonne liftoff thrust. CZ-11 may be able to lift 700 kg to sun synchronous orbit.
CZ-11 Erected in Launch Canister at Jiquan
The test flight boosted three small “Tianwang-1 satellites and a fourth named Pujian 1 into roughly 480 km orbits at inclinations of 94.2 to 97.3 deg. One object, possibly a fourth stage with a liquid propulsion was tracked in an elliptical transfer type orbit.
CZ-11 may be based on the DF-31 series solid fuel ballistic missile already in China’s inventory. The canister used to launch CZ-11 was similar to launch canisters used by the road-mobile DF-31A.
CZ-11 appears to differ substantially from another quick-response solid fuel orbital launch vehicle named “Kuaizhou” (“Quick Vessel”) that China began flying in 2013, also from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The first CZ-11 may, however, have been launched from a mobile pad at Jiuquan, the second of two built northeast of the CZ-2F launch site, that also hosted the second Kuazhou launch in 2014.
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Vehicle Configurations
| LEO Payload (metric tons) | Earth Escape Payload (metric tons) | Configuration | LIftoff Height (meters) | Liftoff Mass (metric tons) | |
| CZ-11 | 0.7 t (LEO/S) | Three solid stages + liquid storable propellant fourth stage | 18.7 – 20.8 m | 58 t | |
Vehicle Components
| Stg 1 | Stg 2 | Stg 3 | Stg 4 | Payload Fairing | |
| Diameter (m) | 2 m | 2m | 2.4 m | 1.4 m | 1.6 m |
| Length (m) | ~9 m (incl I/S) | ~3 m (incl I/S) | ~1 m | ~1 m | ~5.7 m |
| Propellant Mass (tonnes) | |||||
| Empty Mass (tonnes) | |||||
| Total Mass (tonnes) | |||||
| Engine | |||||
| Engine Mfgr | |||||
| Fuel | Solid | Solid | Solid | Liquid | |
| Oxidizer | Liquid | ||||
| Thrust (SL tons) | 120 t | ||||
| Thrust (Vac tons) | |||||
| ISP (SL sec) | |||||
| ISP (Vac sec) | |||||
| Burn Time (sec) | |||||
| No. Engines | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Epsilon Launch Log
EPSILON ORBITAL SPACE LAUNCH LOG DATE VEHICLE ID PAYLOAD MASS(t) SITE* ORBIT* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 09/25/15 CZ-11 CZ11-01 Multisats JQ LEO/S ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Site Code: JQ = Jiuquan, China Orbit Code: EEO/M = Molynia (12-hr) Elliptical Earth Orbit FTO = Failed to Orbit FSO = Failed Suborbital GTO = Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit GTO+ = Supersynchronous or High Perigee Transfer Orbit GTO- = Subsynchronous Transfer Orbit GTOi = Inclined GTO GEO = Geosynchronous Orbit HCO = Heliocentric (solar) Orbit HTO = High Earth Transfer Orbit LEO = Low Earth Orbit LEO/S = Sun Synchronous Low Earth Orbit LEO/P = Polar Low Earth Orbit MEO = Medium Earth Orbit MTO = Medium Earth Transfer Orbit SUB = Suborbital xxx
