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| Attribute | Long March 8 (incl. 8A) 🇨🇳 China Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-07-26Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | United Launch Alliance | China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) / CASC | ExPace (CASIC subsidiary) |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇨🇳 China | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | Retired | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Medium | Small |
| Propellant | LH2 / LOX | RP-1 / LOX (stage 1); LH2/LOX (stage 2) | Solid (3 stages) + liquid upper stage |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| First flight | 2004 – 2024 | 2020 | 2020 |
| Payload to LEO | 28,370 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 8,100 kgas of [1]5,000 kg to 700 km SSO (base); the enlarged-second-stage 8A variant (first flew 2025-02-11) lifts 7,000 kg to the same SSO reference orbit. | 1,500 kgas of [1] |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 70.7 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 50.3 mas of [1] | — |
| Liftoff mass | 733 tas of [1] | 356 t (base); 371 t (8A)as of [1] ↑ Best | 78 tas of [1]Transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) capable. |
| Success rate | 93.75% (15/16 full success, 1 partial failure)as of [1] | 100% (16/16 combined base + 8A)as of [1] ↑ Best | 80% (4/5)as of [1]Debut flight (2020-07-10) failed; returned to flight 2022-12-07 successfully. |
| Total flights | 16as of [1] | 16 (base + 8A combined)as of [1] ↑ Best | 5as of [1] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | — |
| Summary | ULA's triple-common-booster-core heavy-lift launcher, retired 2024-04-09 after its final flight; superseded by Vulcan Centaur, which ULA states offers similar heavy-lift capability at lower cost. | A two-stage medium-lift launcher originally designed with a reusable combined-booster-recovery concept in mind, though currently operational vehicles fly expendable. Exclusively from Wenchang. | The larger sibling of Kuaizhou-1A, roughly 3.75x the payload class, road-mobile and solid-fueled, recovering commercial cadence after a 2020 debut failure. |
48 launch vehicles across 10 countries — active, retired, and in development — with primary-source citations from manufacturer user guides and agency press kits. Pure URL state: bookmark or share the link and the comparison reproduces exactly.