Long March 8

Long March 8 is an orbital launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology to launch up to 5000 kg to a 700 km altitude Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). The rocket is based on the Long March 7 with its first stage and two boosters, along with the existing liquid hydrogen burning third stage of the Long March 3A/3B/3C and 7A as its second stage. The boosters are omitted in the "core only" variant that first flew on its second launch in February 2022.

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.

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

CZ-8A variant
An upgraded version of the Long March 8, the Long March 8A, will debut in 2024 with increased capability of up to 7 tonnes to a 700 km altitude sun-synchronous orbit. It implements a larger 3.35 meters diameter liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen second stage, coupled with 2 upgraded version of the YF-75D engines (known as the YF-75H) with increased thrust to 10 tonnes each through measures such as increased turbopump speeds. The Long March 8A can also use a larger 5.2 meters diameter payload fairing.