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| Attribute | Long March 8 (incl. 8A) 🇨🇳 China Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-07-26Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) / CASC | Avio | LandSpace |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇪🇺 Europe | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | Active | In Development | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Small | Medium |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX (stage 1); LH2/LOX (stage 2) | Solid (P160C first stage) / LOX-methane (cryogenic upper stage) | CH₄ / LOX (9× TQ-12B first stage; TQ-15B vacuum upper stage) |
| Reusable | No | No | Yes |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 2020 | 2027 | 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. | — | 21,000 kgas of [1]Expendable; ~18,300 kg with first-stage recovery ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 50.3 mas of [1] | — | 76.2 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 356 t (base); 371 t (8A)as of [1] ↑ Best | — | ~660 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 100% (16/16 combined base + 8A)as of [1] ↑ Best | — | 100%as of [2]1/1 orbital successes (Y1, Dec 3, 2025). First-stage recovery failed — abnormal combustion during the landing burn crashed the booster near the landing zone. |
| Total flights | 16 (base + 8A combined)as of [1] ↑ Best | — | 1as of [3]Second orbital launch and recovery attempt targeted Q2 2026 per LandSpace |
| 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. | The next evolution of ESA's Vega line: replaces the Zefiro-9 and AVUM+ stages with a single cryogenic LOX/methane upper stage powered by the new M10 engine, adding multi-orbit deployment flexibility. First flight is a stated target (2027), not yet flown. | LandSpace's stainless-steel, reusable methalox rocket — China's closest analogue to Falcon 9. The Y1 debut (Dec 3, 2025) reached orbit on the first attempt but lost the booster during its landing attempt; a second flight with another recovery attempt is targeted for Q2 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.