China Long March 8A Rocket Rolled Out to the Launch Pad in Hainan

China Long March 8A Rocket Rolled Out to the Launch Pad in Hainan

A China Long March 8A rocket being rolled out to the launch pad at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site located in the southern island province of Hainan. The Long March 8A (LM-8/CZ-8) is an orbital launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) that can launch up to 7 tonnes to a 700 km altitude Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).

The two-stage rocket is based on the Long March 7 (LM-7) with its dual engine first stage and single engine boosters. It uses liquid oxygen (LOX) and kerosene (refined petroleum-1 or RP-1) as propellant for its first stage.

Whereas the LM-7 uses four boosters, the LM-8 normally uses just two. The Long March 8A version has a hydrolox second stage and a larger diameter (to match the 3.35 meters diameter core stage), along with two upgraded versions of the YF-75D engines (known as the YF-75H) with increased thrust to 10 tonnes each through measures such as increased turbopump speeds. Hydrolox refers to a cryogenic rocket propellant combination of liquid hydrogen (LH₂) and liquid oxygen (LOX), used for high‑efficiency rocket engines due to its very high specific impulse.

A future launch vehicle variant of the Long March 8 is intended to be partially reusable by featuring a combined booster recovery of the first stage and the boosters as a single unit.

Video Credit: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) 
Duration: 40 seconds
Release Date: Oct. 16, 2026

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