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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 | Rocket Lab | China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) / CASC | Interstellar Technologies |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇨🇳 China | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Status | In Development | Active | In Development |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Medium | Small |
| Propellant | CH₄ / LOX | RP-1 / LOX (stage 1); LH2/LOX (stage 2) | Liquid biomethane (LBM) / LOX |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2026 | 2020 | 2027 |
| Payload to LEO | 13,000 kgas of [1]Reusable configuration with downrange barge landing — this is the single payload figure Rocket Lab publishes. ~15,000 kg expendable. ↑ 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. | 250 kgas of [1]500 km SSO. No flight attempts as of this research — follows the company's successful suborbital MOMO sounding-rocket program. A larger orbital vehicle, DECA, was announced January 2023. |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 43 mas of [1] | 50.3 mas of [1] ↑ Best | — |
| Liftoff mass | ~481 tas of [1] | 356 t (base); 371 t (8A)as of [1] ↑ Best | — |
| Success rate | — | 100% (16/16 combined base + 8A)as of [1] ↑ Best | — |
| Total flights | — | 16 (base + 8A combined)as of [1] ↑ Best | — |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | — |
| Summary | Rocket Lab's medium-lift reusable rocket targeting the $100B constellation replenishment market. Uses a 'hungry hippo' fairings design that opens at the top rather than traditional clamshell separation. First flight delayed to Q4 2026 after a Jan 2026 propellant tank test anomaly. | 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 liquid-biomethane orbital smallsat launcher from Interstellar Technologies, Japan's most established private rocket startup by suborbital flight heritage, though not yet flown to orbit. |
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.