The Long March 7 launch vehicle is a new type of liquid fuel launch vehicle developed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (No.1 Aerospace Institute). Long March 7 is a new generation of medium-sized launch vehicle newly developed by China's manned spaceflight project for launching cargo spacecraft.
The Long March 7 adopts a "two and a half" configuration, with a total length of 53. 1 m, a core diameter of 3.35 m, and four boosters with a diameter of 2.25 m are bundled. The carrying capacity of near-earth orbit is not less than 14 tons, and the carrying capacity of 700 km sun-synchronous orbit is 5.5 tons.
Each of the four boosters of the Long March 7 uses a YF- 100 liquid oxygen kerosene engine (single pendulum); The first stage of rocket core uses two YF- 100 liquid oxygen kerosene engines (double pendulum).
Development background
Before 2020, China will launch a large number of spacecraft in various orbits, and there is a strong demand for launch vehicles, especially medium-sized launch vehicles. China has started the development of CZ-5, CZ-6 and CZ-7 launch vehicles, among which the Long March 7 (CZ-7) launch vehicle is a medium-sized launch vehicle that gives priority to the urgent need of launching cargo ships in manned spaceflight projects.
The earliest prototype of the Long March 7 rocket was the Long March 2 F/H model, which adopted the mature technology of the Long March 2 F model and replaced it with a newly developed liquid oxygen kerosene engine, that is, Maobian (H model).
At the same time, the Long March 5 series of launch vehicles developed are also divided into three types: large, medium and small, of which the medium-sized one with a diameter of 3.35 meters overlaps with the H-type of Long March 2. Finally, it was decided to develop a new medium-sized rocket, which not only integrated the mature technology of Long March 2 but also applied the new technology of Long March 5, and gave it a new number "Long March 7".