Long March 8
Size
Rendering of Long March 8 Y1
Function	Orbital launch vehicle
Manufacturer	China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT)
Country of origin	China
Height	Standard: 50.34 m (165.2 ft) Core only: 48 m (157 ft)^[1]
Diameter	3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Mass	Standard: 356,000 kg (785,000 lb) Core only: 198,000 kg (437,000 lb)^[1]
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to SSO 700 km
Mass	Standard: 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) Core only: 3,000 kg (6,600 lb)^[1]
Payload to LEO
Mass	8,100 kg (17,900 lb)
Payload to GTO
Mass	2,800 kg (6,200 lb)

Associated rockets
Comparable	Soyuz-2 Antares Falcon 9 (RTLS reusable) Ariane 6 H3
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Wenchang, LC-2 Jiuquan
Total launches	2
Success(es)	2
First flight	22 December 2020
Last flight	27 February 2022

Boosters (Standard) – K2 booster
No. boosters	2 or 0
Height	26.903 m (88.26 ft)
Diameter	2.25 m (7 ft 5 in)
Powered by	1 YF-100
Maximum thrust	Sea level: 1,200 kN (270,000 lb_f) Vacuum: 1,340 kN (300,000 lb_f)
Total thrust	Sea level: 4,800 kN (1,100,000 lb_f) Vacuum: 5,360 kN (1,200,000 lb_f)
Specific impulse	Sea level: 300 s (2.9 km/s) Vacuum: 335 s (3.29 km/s)
Propellant	RP-1 / LOX
First stage – K3 core module
Height	25.083 m (82.29 ft)
Diameter	3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Powered by	2 YF-100
Maximum thrust	Sea level: 2,400 kN (540,000 lb_f) Vacuum: 2,680 kN (600,000 lb_f)
Specific impulse	Sea level: 300 s (2.9 km/s) Vacuum: 335 s (3.29 km/s)
Propellant	RP-1 / LOX
Second stage
Height	12.375 m (40.60 ft)
Diameter	3.0 m (9.8 ft)
Powered by	2 YF-75
Maximum thrust	167.17 kN (37,580 lb_f)
Specific impulse	438 s (4.30 km/s)
Propellant	LH₂ / LOX

[edit on Wikidata]

Long March 8 (Chinese: 长征八号运载火箭) is an orbital launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology to launch up to 5000 kg to a 700 km altitude Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).^[2] The rocket is based on the Long March 7 with its first stage and two boosters, along with the existing liquid hydrogen burning third stage of the Long March 3A/3B/3C and 7A as its second stage. The boosters are omitted in the "core only" variant that first flew on its second launch in February 2022.^[1]

A planned future launch vehicle variant of the Long March 8 will be partially reusable by featuring a combined booster recovery of the first stage and the boosters as a single unit.^[3]

The maiden flight of the Long March 8 was launched on 22 December 2020 from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site.^[4]

Launch statistics

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Failure
Partial failure
Success
Planned

List of launches

Main article: List of Long March launches

Flight number	Date (UTC)	Variant	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Outcome
1	22 December 2020 04:37^[4]^[5]	Standard	Wenchang, LC-2	Xinjishu Yanzheng 7 (XJY-7) Haisi-1 Tianqi Xingzuo 08 (Ping'an-1) Yuanguang-1 ET-SMART-RSS (Zhixing-1A)	SSO	Success
2	27 February 2022 03:06^[6]	Core only^[6]	Wenchang, LC-2	Dayun (Xingshidai-17) Hainan-1 01, 02 Jilin-1 Gaofen-03D 10–18 Jilin-1 Mofang-02A 01 Qimingxing-1 Taijing-3 01 Taijing-4 01 Tianxian-1 (Chaohu-1) Chuangxing Leishen Wenchang-1 01, 02 XD-1 Tianqi-19	SSO	Success
3	18 March 2024^[7]	Standard	Wenchang, LC-2	Queqiao-2 Tiandu-1, 2	Selenocentric	Planned

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "长征八号遥二运载火箭飞行试验取得圆满成功". people.cn (in Chinese (China)). 27 February 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
^ 贾平凡 (28 December 2020). "长征八号首飞成功中国运载火箭家族再添新成员" (in Simplified Chinese). 新华社. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
^ Jones, Andrew (30 April 2018). "China to test rocket reusability with planned Long March 8 launcher". SpaceNews. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
^ ^a ^b Jones, Andrew (22 December 2020). "China launches first Long March 8 from Wenchang spaceport". SpaceNews. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
^ "长征八号运载火箭首次飞行试验取得圆满成功" [First Long March 8 rocket test flight was a complete success]. CNSA (in Chinese). 22 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
^ ^a ^b Jones, Andrew (27 February 2022). "China launches national record 22 satellites on Long March 8 commercial rideshare". SpaceNews. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
^ Seger Yu [@SegerYu] (2 October 2023). "The Queqiao-2 relay satellite is expected to be launched in March 2024" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

v t e Long March (rocket family)
Rockets	Feng Bao 1 Long March 1 1D Long March 2 2A 2C 2D 2E 2F Long March 3 3A 3B 3B/E 3C Long March 4 4A 4B 4C Long March 5 5B Long March 6 6A 6C Long March 7 7A Long March 8 Long March 9 Long March 10 Long March 11
Launch sites	Jiuquan Taiyuan Wenchang Commercial Xichang
Manufacturers	China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology
Designers	Wang Xiji
List of Long March launches

Chinese launch systems

Sounding rockets

T-7
OS-XO

Orbital launch vehicles

Active	Ceres 1 1S Gravity-1 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 Kaituozhe 2 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Kinetica-1 Long March CZ-2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 6C 7 7A 8 11 11H OS-M1 Tianlong-2 Zhuque 2
In development	Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Naga-L New Line 1 OS-M2 OS-M4 Pallas 1 2 Nebula 1 Zhuque 3
Retired	Feng Bao 1 Kaituozhe-1 Long March CZ-1 1D 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Zhuque 1

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Delta IV Heavy Electron Epsilon Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3^† Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica-1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased RS1^† Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship^† Tianlong-2 Unha Vega original C Vulcan Centaur Zenit 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Ariane 6 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV Diamant Dnepr Energia Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

Launch statistics

List of launches

See also

References