Jielong 3

Jielong 3 (Chinese: 捷龙三号运载火箭, 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 (SSO). 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.^[2] The fairing diameter is 3.35 m. It uses the same rocket motors as the Zhongke-1 (ZK-1, Lijian-1) rocket.

FunctionSmall orbital launch vehicle

ManufacturerCALT

Country of originChina

Height31 m (102 ft)

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Jielong 3

Maiden launch of Jielong-3
Function	Small orbital launch vehicle
Manufacturer	CALT
Country of origin	China
Size
Height	31 m (102 ft)
Diameter	2.64 m (8.7 ft)
Mass	145,000 kg (320,000 lb)
Stages	4
Capacity
Payload to SSO 500 km
Mass	1,600 kg (3,500 lb)[1]
Associated rockets
Comparable	Jielong 1, Minotaur I Pegasus Start-1 Electron
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Special converted barge, Yellow Sea
Total launches	11
Success(es)	11
First flight	9 December 2022
Last flight	11 April 2026
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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.

The carrying capacity of the Jielong 3 launcher initially stood at 1,560 kilograms to 500 kilometres SSO orbits, but this has since increased to 1,600 kilograms by the rocket's fifth launch on 13 January, 2025. Also in January 2025, Gao Lijun from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) stated that further improvements will be made to the rocket in order to enable it eventually to carry up to two metric tons to 500 km SSO orbits.^[1]