Long March 2D rocket lifts 41 satellites into space, setting new national record

Its success has earned it the "gold-medal rocket model" moniker in China's space industry.

The 40.6-meter rocket has a diameter of 3.35 meters and a liftoff weight of 251 metric tons.

Its typical tasks are to transport satellites to low-Earth or sun-synchronous orbits.

It is capable of sending a 1.3-ton spacecraft to a sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of 700 kilometers, or satellites with a combined weight of 4 tons to a low-Earth orbit.