Pick up to 4 launch vehicles to compare side-by-side. State lives in the URL — share the link and the comparison loads exactly as you left it.
The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | Long March 8 (incl. 8A) 🇨🇳 China Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-07-26Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | United Launch Alliance | Avio / Arianespace | China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) / CASC |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇪🇺 Europe | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | Retired | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Small | Medium |
| Propellant | LH2 / LOX | Solid (HTPB + ammonium perchlorate all four stages) | RP-1 / LOX (stage 1); LH2/LOX (stage 2) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| First flight | 2004 – 2024 | 2022 | 2020 |
| Payload to LEO | 28,370 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 2,300 kgas of [1]SSO: ~1,700 kg | 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. |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 70.7 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 35 mas of [1] | 50.3 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 733 tas of [1] | 210 tas of [1] | 356 t (base); 371 t (8A)as of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | 93.75% (15/16 full success, 1 partial failure)as of [1] | 75%as of [2]6/8 successes; VV22 (Dec 2022) Zefiro-40 failure destroyed Pléiades Neo 5&6; returned to flight VV25 (Dec 2024). 3 successes in 2025. | 100% (16/16 combined base + 8A)as of [1] ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 16as of [1] | 8as of [2] | 16 (base + 8A combined)as of [1] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$16,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$38M list price / 2,300 kg ↓ Cheapest | — |
| Summary | ULA's triple-common-booster-core heavy-lift launcher, retired 2024-04-09 after its final flight; superseded by Vulcan Centaur, which ULA states offers similar heavy-lift capability at lower cost. | Europe's primary small satellite launcher derived from Vega. The P120C first-stage motor is shared with Ariane 6's solid strap-on boosters. Avio took over programme management from Arianespace in Dec 2025. | 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. |
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.