China Returns Long March 3B to Flight with Shijian-31 Satellite Launch
China successfully launched the Shijian-31 experimental satellite on Tuesday, returning the workhorse Long March 3B/E rocket to operational service after a rare failure in January 2026. The rocket lifted off at 5:45 p.m. Beijing Time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan Province, according to Xinhua News Agency.
A Critical Return to Flight
The mission marked the 651st flight of the Long March rocket series and China’s 43rd space mission of 2026, underscoring the nation’s aggressive launch cadence. But the launch carried particular significance as the return-to-flight for the Long March 3B/E, which had been grounded since a third-stage failure on January 17 caused the loss of a Shijian-class spacecraft.
China Daily reported that the satellite was designed and built by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), and is tasked with space environment detection.
Investigation and Recovery
The five-month grounding triggered an extensive investigation by CASC and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), the Beijing-based designer of the Long March 3B/E. According to a detailed analysis by independent space analyst Jack C. on China-in-Space, the investigation involved multi-system integration, interdisciplinary collaboration, and multiple rounds of iteration, culminating in five technical improvements to enhance reliability.
CALT stated that the project team “rose from setbacks and forged ahead amidst challenges,” conducting extensive simulation analyses and ground tests to thoroughly understand the root causes of the malfunction. The team also tightened process quality control by implementing tiered and categorized management of launch site operations and conducting independent verification of test data.
Before the return-to-flight, the third-stage liquid hydrogen and oxygen propulsion system was successfully flown three times on Long March 8 missions to low Earth orbit and once on a Long March 7A mission to geostationary space, demonstrating the stage’s reliability.
The Long March 3B/E Rocket
The Long March 3B is an older-generation geostationary orbit workhorse developed by CALT. Standing 56.3 meters tall and weighing nearly 459 metric tons when fully fueled, the rocket uses hypergolic propellants — dinitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine — for its first two stages and four boosters, while the third stage burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Since 2012, only the enhanced 3B/E variant has flown, offering increased payload capacity of up to 5,500 kilograms to geostationary transfer orbit.
Before the January failure, Long March 3B/E missions had been expected to fly approximately every two weeks after optimization efforts in 2025 streamlined pre-flight processes and production methods. That cadence had made the launch vehicle “hardware-rich,” requiring quality control to be split between Beijing for monitoring manufacturing defects and Xichang for catching later-incurred defects.
The Shijian-31 Satellite
The Shijian (实践) series — the name translates to “Practice” in English — comprises experimental spacecraft designed to test new technologies and operational practices in space. The China News Service confirmed that the satellite successfully entered its predetermined orbit, with the launch declared a complete success.
Shijian-31 joins a lineage of Chinese experimental spacecraft that have included satellites with space environment monitoring, orbital maneuvering, and on-orbit servicing capabilities. While the satellite is officially described as being for “space environment detection,” the broader Shijian series has historically included spacecraft with proximity operations capabilities, such as Shijian-21.
China’s Accelerating Space Program
This launch — the 116th flight of a Long March 3B vehicle — comes amid a period of rapid expansion for China’s space program. With 43 missions in roughly 5.5 months, China is on track for an annual launch rate approaching 90 or more launches, among the highest in the world.
The rapid return-to-flight — approximately five months for a complex heavy-lift rocket after a failure — is relatively fast by international standards and reflects China’s determination to maintain its launch schedule for both domestic and commercial payloads.
What to Watch
The successful recovery of the Long March 3B/E removes a critical bottleneck in China’s launch manifest. The rocket is a primary vehicle for delivering satellites to geostationary transfer orbit, carrying payloads of up to 5.5 tons. With the rocket now back in service, China can resume its planned launch tempo for high-orbit missions, including communications satellites and additional Shijian-series spacecraft.
As China continues developing reusable launch vehicles and expanding satellite constellations, the demonstrated ability to diagnose, rectify, and recover from complex engineering failures will remain essential to sustaining its position as a leading spacefaring nation.