Jielong 3 Explained

Jielong 3 (meaning "agile dragon", also known as Smart Dragon 3, SD-3), is a solid fueled orbital launch vehicle developed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology's subsidiary China Rocket to launch up to 1500 kg to a 500 km altitude Sun-synchronous orbit. The rocket is 31 meters tall, 2.65 meters in diameter and weighs 145 metric tons. It is a solid fuel, 4 stage orbital rocket.^[1] The fairing diameter is 3.35 m. It uses the same rocket motors as the Zhongke-1 (ZK-1, Lijian-1) rocket.

The maiden flight of Jielong 3 on 9 December 2022, 06:35 UTC was successful. It delivered fourteen small satellites into polar orbit. The satellites were Jilin-1 Gaofen-03D-44-50 and Pingtai-01A01, HEAD 2H, Jinzijing Qilu-1 05 and 06, Tianqi 07, Huoju 1 (Torch 1) and CAS 5A. The launch took place from a floating platform off Yantai, Shandong.

List of launches

Serial number	Flight number	Date (UTC)	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Outcome
1	Y1	9 December 2022 06:35[2]	Special converted barge (Tai Rui) East China Sea (37.3°N, 123.7°E)	Jilin-1 Gaofen-03D-44-50 Jilin-1 Pingtai-01A01 HEAD 2H Jinzijing Qilu-1 05, 06 Tianqi 07 Huoju 1 CAS 5A	SSO	[3] [4]
2	Y2	5 December 2023 19:24[5]	Special converted barge (Bo Run Jiu Zhou) South China Sea (21.2°N, 112.1°E)	Hulianwang Jishu Shiyan 3	LEO
3	Y3	3 February 2024 03:06[6]	Special converted barge (Bo Run Jiu Zhou) South China Sea (21.2°N, 112.1°E)	Dongfang Huiyan-GF01 DRO-L NEXSAT-1 WeiHai-1-01/02 XingShiDai-18/19/20 Zhixing-2A	SSO
4	Y4	24 September 2024 02:31[7]	Special converted barge (Dong Fang Hang Tian Gang) Yellow Sea (36.4°N, 121.1°E)	Tianyi-41 Luojia 4-01 Fudan-1 Tianyan-15 Jitianxing A-01 Xingshidai-15/21/22	SSO
5	Y5	Q4 2024	Sea launch platform
6	Y6	Q4 2024	Sea launch platform
7	Y7	Q4 2024	Sea launch platform
8	Y8	Q4 2024	Sea launch platform

Notes and References

1. Web site: Jielong-3 (Smart Dragon-3, SD 3). Gunter's Space Page.
2. Web site: Jones . Andrew . China launches 14 satellites with new solid rocket from mobile sea platform . . 9 December 2022 . 9 December 2022.
3. Web site: 丰台少年二号暨少年梦想二号"卫星系列报道——星箭电气对接试验 . "Fengtai Junior No.2 and Junior Dream No.2" Satellite Series Report - Satellite-Rocket Electric Separation Test . East Highland Youth Science and Technology Museum . zh . 17 October 2022 . 24 October 2022 . Weixin QQ.
4. Web site: Gao . Huantao . 逐梦深空，我国商业航天首颗生物卫星即将发射 . Chasing the dream of deep space, my country's first commercial space satellite is about to launch . Rocket Pi . zh . 31 October 2022 . 31 October 2022 . Weixin QQ.
5. Web site: Chinese rocket Smart Dragon-3 launches test satellite . 6 December 2023 . 6 December 2023 . Xinhua.
6. Web site: China launches powerful Jielong-3 rocket, paves way for more commercial missions . 3 February 2024 . 3 February 2024 . Reuters.
7. Web site: 首飞后再亮相，捷龙三号下半年"动作"曝光 . After the maiden flight, the "activity" of Jielong 3 will resume in the second half of the year . zh . 9 June 2023 . 9 June 2023 . China Rocket.