SPACE LAUNCH REPORT China Launch Vehicle Flight History by Variant/Year (1957-Present) Page 6 of 7: Small Launchers (OS-M, Jielong 1) L(F) = Number of Launches(Number of Failures) OS-M Jielong-1 Year L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) ------------------------------------------------------------------ 2010 - - - - - - - 2011 - - - - - - - 2012 - - - - - - - 2013 - - - - - - - 2014 - - - - - - - 2015 - - - - - - - 2016 - - - - - - - 2017 - - - - - - - 2018 - - - - - - - 2019 1(1) 1(0) - - - - - 2020 - - - - - - - 2021 - - - - - - 2022 - - - - - - 2023 - - - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------ OS-M Jielong-1 L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) L(F) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Suborb - - - - - - - Orbit 1(1) 1(0) Totals 1(1) 1(0) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Footnotes: * Suborbital tests/flights "ZQ" = Zhuque Three solid stages, the first two based on DF-26 MRBM. "ZQ-2" = Zhuque 2 Two-stage Methane/LOX liquid. First orbital attempt and first success in world using LOX/Methane. "SQX-1" = Hyperbola-1. 4-stage rocket, possibly based on solids from DF-11 or DF-15 ballistic missiles, 31 tonne GLOW, 20.8 meters x 1.4 meters maximum diameter. SQX-1 designed to lift 260 kg to LEO/S. "OS-M" = (also called OS-M1) 4-stage solids, 18.9 meters tall, 112 kg to 500 km LEO/S. Appears to use solid motors adapted from short range military missiles. Stgs 1-3 have fixed nozzles with steering vanes in exhaust. Stg 1 and Stg 2 appear to use idential motors. Stg 1 uses aerodynamic fins. "ZK-1A" (Lijian) A four-stage solid propellant launch vehicle with a 2.65 m diameter first stage. "Jielong 1" = Smart Dragon 1. 4-stg solid fuel rocket. Uses mobile TEL. 19.5 meters x 1.2 meters, ~23.1 tonnes GLOW, 150 kg to 700 km LEO/S or 200 kg to 500 km LEO/S. Stg 4 mounted above the payload, rotates 180 deg after separation before igniting. "Jielong 3" = 4-stg solid fuel rocket. Same lower stages as ZK-1A. 2.65 m diameter. The first three stages are solid motors. The fourth stage is a solid motor supported in a frame that also hosts a liquid reaction control system. "Ceres-1" = A 31 tonne, 19 meter tall rocket with three HTBP solid motors topped by a liquid propellant fourth stage, debuted in 2020. It is able to lift 230 kg to 700 km sun synchronous orbits, or 350 kg to a 200 km lower inclination orbit. A commercial company, Galactic Energy, developed and launched the rocket. It is likely based in part on existing China missile technology. Its first two stages share the 1.4 meter diameter of China's DF-21/25/26 IRBM family. The first stage GS-1 motor produces 60 tonnes thrust during a 74 second burn. The GS-2 second stage makes 28 tonnes thrust for 70 seconds. The GS-3 third stage produces 8.8 tonnes thrust for 69 seconds. The liquid fourth stage uses low-thrust, pressure-fed engines for insertion burns and can fire for up to 310 seconds. Ceres-1 launched from a simple steel launch stand standing on a flat pad. List of Failures: ------------------------------------------------------------------ 10/27/18 ZQ-1 01 Weilai 1 JQ [FTO][1] 03/27/19 OS-M 01 Lingque 1B JQ TKE2 [FTO][2] 02/01/21 SQX-1 F2 Test Flight JQ [FTO][3] 08/03/21 SQX-1 F3 Test Flight JQ [FTO][4] 05/13/22 SQX 1.2 Y4 Jilin-1 Mofang 01A(R) JQ 43/95A [FTO][4.5] 12/14/22 ZQ-2 Y1 Smartsat 1B+10usats JQ 43/96 [FTO][5] ------------------------------------------------------------------ [1] Flight control lost about 13 seconds into third stage burn. [2] Control lost at 2nd stg ignition [3] Disintegrated around time of Max-Q. [4] PL fairing failed to separate correctly. [4.5] Planned LEO/S. Cause not announced. [5] Inaugural launch. Stg 2 vernier shut down with main engine, 2 minutes early. Planned SSO. First attempted flight to orbit by a LOX/LCH4 rocket. References: Jonathan's Space Report Launch Vehicle Database "http://www.planet4589.org/space/lvdb/index.html" Encylopedia Astronautica "http://www.astronautix.com/" Gunter's Space Page "http://www.skyrocket.de/space" Last Update 12/31/2023 by Ed Kyle