HAIKOU: China’s new generation medium-sized launch vehicle Long March-8 made a successful maiden flight from the tropical island province of Hainan in South China on Tuesday, sending five satellites into designated orbit at the same time. According to the model’s designers from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), a subordinate to the state aerospace giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), Long March-8 is capable of launching a payload of three to four and a half tons to the Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). As a new member of the Long March carrier rocket family, the development of the Long March-8 aims to fill this gap, and the rocket model will be tasked with meeting surging demand for launch services from commercial satellite companies at home and abroad.
The Long March-8’s successful maiden flight means a lot to China’s efforts to build itself into a space power, as it will strongly push forward the upgrading of China’s medium-sized launch vehicles, and will lead the development of the country’s satellites in medium and low orbits and meet the launch requirements for these spacecrafts, Xiao Yun, the rocket’s commander-in-chief, told the Global Times on Tuesday. The 50.3-meter-long Long March-8 has a 3.35-meter-diameter core stage and two 2.25-meter-diameter side boosters. Weighing 356 tons at launch, it has a 480-ton take-off thrust and is capable of sending payloads weighing more than 4.5 tons into the SSO 700 kilometers above the ground, CALT said in a statement it sent to the Global Times.
– The Daily Mail-Global Times News exchange item
