Long March 8

Long March 8 (Chinese: 长征八号运载火箭) is an orbital launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology to launch up to 4500 kg to a 700 km altitude Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). The rocket is based on the Long March 7 with its first stage and 2 of its boosters, along with the existing liquid hydrogen burning third stage of the Long March 3A/3B/3C and 7A as its second stage.

Long March 8
FunctionOrbital launch vehicle
ManufacturerChina Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT)
Country of originChina
Size
Height50.34 m (165.2 ft)
Diameter3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Width1.4
Mass356,000 kg (785,000 lb)
Stages2
Capacity
Payload to SSO 700 km
Mass4,500 kg (9,900 lb)
Payload to LEO
Mass8,400 kg (18,500 lb)
Payload to GTO
Mass2,800 kg (6,200 lb)
Associated rockets
ComparableSoyuz-2
Antares
Falcon 9 (RTLS reusable)
Ariane 6
H3
Launch history
StatusActive
Launch sitesWenchang, LC-2
Jiuquan
Total launches1
Success(es)1
First flight22 December 2020
Boosters – K2 booster
No. boosters2
Length26.903 m (88.26 ft)
Diameter2.25 m (7 ft 5 in)
Engines1 YF-100
ThrustSea level: 1,200 kN (270,000 lbf)
Vacuum: 1,340 kN (300,000 lbf)
Total thrustSea level: 4,800 kN (1,100,000 lbf)
Vacuum: 5,360 kN (1,200,000 lbf)
Specific impulseSea level: 300 s (2.9 km/s)
Vacuum: 335 s (3.29 km/s)
FuelRP-1 / LOX
First stage – K3 core module
Length25.083 m (82.29 ft)
Diameter3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Engines2 YF-100
ThrustSea level: 2,400 kN (540,000 lbf)
Vacuum: 2,680 kN (600,000 lbf)
Specific impulseSea level: 300 s (2.9 km/s)
Vacuum: 335 s (3.29 km/s)
FuelRP-1 / LOX
Second stage
Length12.375 m (40.60 ft)
Diameter3.0 m (9.8 ft)
Engines2 YF-75
Thrust167.17 kN (37,580 lbf)
Specific impulse438 s (4.30 km/s)
FuelLH2 / LOX

A planned future launch vehicle variant of the Long March 8 will be partially reusable by featuring a combined booster recovery of the first stage and the boosters as a single unit.[1]

The maiden flight of the Long March 8 was launched on 22 December 2020 from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site.

List of launches

Flight number Date
(UTC)
Launch site Payload Orbit Outcome
1 22 December 2020
04:37
Wenchang, LC-2 Xinjishu Yanzheng 7 (XJY-7)
Haisi-1
Tianqi Xingzuo 08 (Ping'an-1)
Yuanguang-1
ET-SMART-RSS (Zhixing-1A) [2]
SSO Success [3]

See also

References

  1. Jones, Andrew. "China to test rocket reusability with planned Long March 8 launcher". SpaceNews. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  2. "China launches first Long March 8 from Wenchang spaceport". SpaceNews. 22 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  3. "长征八号运载火箭首次飞行试验取得圆满成功". Retrieved 22 December 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.