The rocket shares many of the same equipment as the Dongfeng missile and uses storable propellants. It is named after the Long March of Chinese communist history. The Shenzhou spacecraft is launched on the Long March rocket.
The PRC launched its first satellite, known as China 1 or Mao 1, to Earth orbit on its own Long March space rocket on April 24, 1970.
Most of the commercial satellite launches of Long March vehicles have been from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, located in Xichang[?], Sichuan province.
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