Long March 2E

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The Long March 2E (LM-2E), also known as the Chang Zheng 2E (CZ-2E), was a Chinese medium-lift launch vehicle from the Long March 2 family. The Long March 2E was a three-stage carrier rocket that was designed to launch commercial communications satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit. Launches took place from launch complex 2 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The Long March 2E made its maiden flight on 16 July 1990. However, the rocket had compatibility flaws with the American-made satellites that caused one launch failure and two partial failures across just seven missions. All of the failures were caused by excessive vibration. The rocket was retired on 28 December 1995 in favor of the Long March 3B. The Long March 2E forms the basis of the Long March 2F, used to launch the crewed Shenzhou spacecraft. The booster rockets developed for the Long March 2E have also been used on the Long March 3B and Long March 3C. All of the satellites launched by the Long March 2E were made by companies based in the United States, which caused political controversy, over fears that the Chinese could study the satellites and use the information they learned to improve their designs. In response, in 1998, the U.S. Congress classified satellite technology as a munition and gave control over export licenses to the State Department under ITAR. No export licenses to China have been approved since 1998.