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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 | CASC / CALT | Isar Aerospace | China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) / CASC |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇩🇪 Germany | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | Active | In Development | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Small | Medium |
| Propellant | UDMH/N₂O₄ (stages 1–2) + LH₂/LOX (stage 3 YF-75) | LOX / kerosene (~80% manufactured in-house) | RP-1 / LOX (stage 1); LH2/LOX (stage 2) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 1996 | 2025 | 2020 |
| Payload to LEO | 11,200 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 1,000 kgas of [1] | 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 | 5,500 kgas of [1]With 4 strap-on liquid boosters (CZ-3B/E enhanced variant) ↑ Best | — | — |
| Height | 54.84 mas of [1] ↑ Best | — | 50.3 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 426 tas of [1]Enhanced variant with 4 liquid strap-on boosters | — | 356 t (base); 371 t (8A)as of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | ~95%as of [2]~6 failures/partial failures out of ~105+ flights; gradually being superseded by Long March 5 for GTO | 0/1 (first flight failed)as of [1]First flight from Andøya Spaceport (2025-03-30): liftoff succeeded but the rocket was terminated ~30 seconds in after a vent valve opened unexpectedly, causing loss of attitude control. Second flight ('Onward and Upward') repeatedly delayed through 2026 (weather, a safety-zone fishing vessel, a composite pressure vessel leak, then off-nominal fluid-system behavior as of 2026-06-15) — not yet flown as of this research. | 100% (16/16 combined base + 8A)as of [1] ↑ Best |
| Total flights | ~105as of [2] | 1as of [1] | 16 (base + 8A combined)as of [1] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | — |
| Summary | China's primary geostationary transfer vehicle for over 25 years. Launched communications, meteorology, and navigation satellites including Beidou-3 (GEO/IGSO nodes). Being phased out in favour of Long March 5 for heavier GTO payloads as newer domestic communications satellites grow in mass. | Germany's first orbital-class launcher attempt; its first flight in March 2025 was Western Europe's first orbital launch attempt from the European mainland. A qualification second flight carrying CubeSats and ESA experiments has slipped repeatedly through 2026. | 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.