The Long March 2D is a two-stage derivative of the Long March 4 family used for missions to low Earth and sun-synchronous orbits.

The Long March 2D first stage is powered by four YF-21C engines that generate 302 tons of thrust burning Dinitrogen Tetroxide and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine.

The first and second stages of the Long March 2D have a diameter of 3.35 meters.

This Long March 2D launch was the vehicle's first launch in 2026 following a month-long launch pause.

The Long March 2D fairing is available in diameters of 3.35 meters, 3.8 meters, or approximately 4 meters.

The two satellites delivered were Shiyan-30-03 and Shiyan-30-04 developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology.

Both stages of the Long March 2D use Dinitrogen Tetroxide and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine as propellants.

The Shiyan satellite designation is used for technology development spacecraft and the term literally translates to test or experiment.

The Long March 2D has flown from the Jiuquan, Taiyuan, and Xichang Satellite Launch Centers.

Shiyan-30-03 and Shiyan-30-04 follow an earlier pair of Shiyan-30 satellites that launched in late September 2025.

The fully fueled mass of the Long March 2D at liftoff is 232,250 kilograms.

The March launch was the 259th Long March vehicle launch conducted by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology.

The Long March 2D second stage is powered by a single YF-22C engine and four YF-23C verniers that together generate 80 tons of thrust while burning Dinitrogen Tetroxide and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine.

The March launch was the 12th orbital launch from China in 2026.

The Long March 2D flight delivered a pair of satellites into low Earth orbit.

The March launch was the 632nd launch of the Long March launch vehicle series.

On the launch pad, the Long March 2D is 41.05 meters tall when fully assembled.

A Long March 2D launched from Launch Complex 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 06:33 China Standard Time on March 13, which was 22:33 Coordinated Universal Time on March 12.

The Long March 2D has a payload capacity of 3,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit.

The Shijian designation translates to practice and is used for more mature technology tests.

The March launch was the 102nd mission for the Long March 2D launch vehicle.

The Long March 2D has a payload capacity of 1,300 kilograms to sun-synchronous orbit.

The Long March 2D launch took place less than three hours after a Long March 8A launch on the same day.

Long March 8A launched the SatNet LEO Group 18 payload from Hainan at 15:25 UTC on January 13, 2026.

Long March 8A Y8 launched the SatNet LEO Group 20 payload from Hainan at 19:48 UTC on March 12, 2026.

One of the 100 Long March 2D launches resulted in a partial failure.

The Long March 2D launch vehicle has reached 100 missions.

Long March 2D Y94 launched the ShiYan-30-01 and ShiYan-30-02 satellites from Xichang at 03:00 UTC on September 29.

Long March 2D Y95 launched the ShiYan-30-03 and ShiYan-30-04 satellites from Xichang at 22:33 UTC on March 12.

Amazon secured a reseller agreement with MTN in February 2026 for maritime deployment of its satellite service.

SpaceX operates roughly 9,500 working satellites in orbit.

SpaceX filed for a million-satellite application intended to support orbital data centers.

Amazon must meet an FCC mandate in July 2026 to have 50% of its initial constellation (roughly 1,618 satellites) operational.

Eutelsat Group merged with OneWeb and has adopted a hybrid GEO-LEO strategy to combine geostationary broadcast capacity with LEO low-latency capabilities.

SpaceX completed a merger with xAI on February 2, 2026.

Amazon Leo entered the commercial market in early 2026.

Satellite operators are focusing on reducing ground segment costs to maintain margins in a falling price environment.

The global Low Earth Orbit market has transitioned from a period of capacity scarcity to one of commoditization.

Eutelsat is targeting approximately 50% LEO revenue growth through 2027 and is leveraging its role in the IRIS² project for long-term financial stability.

The commoditization of the LEO market is driving a significant pricing plunge as SpaceX’s Starlink faces intensified competition from Eutelsat OneWeb and Amazon Leo.

The eighth edition of the Capacity Pricing Trends survey found that the rapid expansion of mega-constellations has outpaced demand in several key regions.

Amazon Leo was formerly Project Kuiper.

Jean-François Fallacher became CEO of Eutelsat Group in June 2025.

Under the MTN and AWS partnership, customers can send site traffic directly to their AWS virtual private clouds.

MTN’s StarEdge Horizon connectivity service is available for purchase on the Amazon Web Services Marketplace.

MTN is an authorized reseller of Starlink to government and defense clients.

MTN positioned StarEdge Horizon as the first satellite connectivity service of its kind available for one-click deployment on AWS Marketplace.

StarEdge Horizon’s availability on AWS Marketplace allows customers to pay for the service through their existing AWS accounts.

Customers can connect to StarEdge Horizon through a shared transit gateway attachment that enables integration with AWS services.

StarEdge Horizon uses a Layer 2 architecture.