China's new rocket ready to be in place / 长征八号遥二运载火箭运抵文昌航天发射场,计划2月发射
The Long March 8 is a new generation of medium-sized two-stage liquid-bound launch vehicle. The first sub-stage uses liquid oxygen/kerosene as propellant and two 120-ton thrust YF-100 engines; the second sub-stage uses liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen as propellant and two 8-ton thrust YF-75 engines with secondary start capability; bundled with two 2.25-meter diameter liquid boosters, using liquid oxygen/kerosene as propellant, each using a 120-ton thrust YF-100 engine.
The Long March 8 can be launched from Wenchang Space Launch Center and Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The rocket has a total length of 50.3 meters, a core stage diameter of 3.35 meters, a second stage diameter of 3 meters, a single booster diameter of 2.25 meters, and a takeoff mass of about 356 tons, mainly for launching payloads in near-Earth orbit or sun-synchronous orbit, and can send a 5-ton payload into a 700-km sun-synchronous orbit. The Long March 8 completed its maiden flight on Dec. 22, 2020.
The Long March 8 launch vehicle uses green and environmentally friendly liquid propellant, developed in accordance with the modular combination of ideas, fully absorbing the in-service and new generation of launch vehicle development achievements, with good inheritance, advanced, adaptable and economic, can fill the gap in China's sun-synchronous orbit launch capacity, to meet the future demand for low and medium orbit high-density launch missions.