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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 × | Long March 6 (incl. 6A / 6C variants) 🇨🇳 China Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-07-26Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) / CASC | SAST (Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology) / CASC | Isar Aerospace |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇨🇳 China | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| Status | Active | Active | In Development |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Medium | Small |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX (stage 1); LH2/LOX (stage 2) | RP-1 / LOX (stages 1–2); N2O4/UDMH (stage 3, base variant) | LOX / kerosene (~80% manufactured in-house) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 2020 | 2015 | 2025 |
| Payload to LEO | 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. | 1,080 kg to SSO (base Long March 6)as of [1]Long March 6A (4 solid boosters, elongated stage 1): at least 4,000 kg to SSO. Long March 6C: similar class without the boosters. Both variants first flew from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. ↑ Best | 1,000 kgas of [1] |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 50.3 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 29 m (base variant)as of [1] | — |
| Liftoff mass | 356 t (base); 371 t (8A)as of [1] ↑ Best | 103 t (base variant)as of [1] | — |
| Success rate | 100% (16/16 combined base + 8A)as of [1] | 100% (base Long March 6, 15/15)as of [1]6A first flew 2022-03-29, 6C first flew 2024-05-07; both maintain perfect records within their own flight histories as of this date. ↑ Best | 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. |
| Total flights | 16 (base + 8A combined)as of [1] ↑ Best | 15 (base variant)as of [1] | 1as of [1] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | — |
| Summary | 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. | A family of medium-lift launchers from SAST serving China's growing SSO/LEO commercial and government satellite demand, with the 6A and 6C variants adding solid boosters or a simplified expendable configuration respectively. | 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. |
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.