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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 | ISRO | China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) / CASC | ExPace (CASIC subsidiary) |
| Country | 🇮🇳 India | 🇨🇳 China | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Medium | Small |
| Propellant | Solid (PS1/PS3) + UDMH/N₂O₄ (PS2/PS4) — 4 alternating stages | RP-1 / LOX (stage 1); LH2/LOX (stage 2) | Solid (3 stages) + liquid-fueled 4th stage |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| First flight | 1993 | 2020 | 2017 |
| Payload to LEO | 3,800 kgas of [1]PSLV-XL with 6 extended solid strap-ons. Standard PSLV-G: 3,250 kg LEO. SSO: ~1,750 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. ↑ Best | 400 kgas of [1] |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 44 mas of [1] | 50.3 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 19.4 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 320 tas of [1]PSLV-XL configuration | 356 t (base); 371 t (8A)as of [1] ↑ Best | 30 tas of [1]Transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) capable — road-mobile solid launcher. |
| Success rate | 93.7%as of [2]60/64 mission successes. Two consecutive recent failures: C61 (2024) and C62 (Jan 12, 2026, stage-3 anomaly, 16 satellites lost). | 100% (16/16 combined base + 8A)as of [1] | ~85% (23 successes, 3 failures, 1 partial failure of 27)as of [1] ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 64as of [2] | 16 (base + 8A combined)as of [1] ↑ Best | 27as of [1] |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$4,000/kgas of [1]Estimated from commercial launch contracts ↓ Cheapest | — | — |
| Summary | India's most reliable and frequently flown launch vehicle, operational since 1994. Set a world record in Feb 2017 by deploying 104 satellites in a single flight (Cartosat-2D + 103 microsats). Launched Chandrayaan-1 (2008), Mars Orbiter Mission (2013), and Aditya-L1 (2023). The dual C61/C62 failure streak raised concerns about aging solid motor design. The vehicle is on a return-to-flight campaign (not retired): PSLV-C63 (TDS-01 technology demonstrator), with strengthened third-stage/PS3 checks following the expert-committee (FAC) review, is targeted for late June / early July 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. | CASIC's road-mobile, quick-response small solid launcher, operated commercially by ExPace since 2017 — one of the higher-cadence Chinese small-lift vehicles. |
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.