China successfully launched a new space rocket model

The Long March 8A rocket took off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Island, at 5:30 p.m. on February 11 (4:30 p.m. Hanoi time).

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said the first flight of the Long March 8A carrier rocket successfully delivered low-orbit satellites into a designated orbit. This is the second batch of such satellites and is expected to form a national satellite Internet network.

The launch marked the 559th flight of the Long March rocket family and made the Long March 8A the 18th operational member of the family. The Long March is now a mainstay of China's space program.

The Long March 8A was designed and built by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), a subsidiary of CASC. The rocket is 50.5 meters tall, has a takeoff weight of 371 tons, and a takeoff thrust of about 480 tons. The Long March 8A will mainly launch satellites into sun-synchronous orbits. Specifically, it is capable of carrying a maximum payload of 7 tons into a typical sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers.

According to Song Zhengyu, a senior rocket scientist at CALT and head of the Long March 8A design team, the new rocket model is developed based on the Long March 8 configuration, with the same design for the first core stage and side-mounted boosters.

The newly developed components include a second core stage and a cargo cover. The rocket can use two types of covers with diameters of 4.2 m and 5.2 m, which means more space for satellites. This means it can support more types of satellites and larger masses, significantly increasing its mission adaptability.

The Truong Chinh 8A also features a number of technical improvements such as a modified engine with more thrust, better servo equipment, and an optimized top structure with a lighter weight. Specifically, the rocket's weight has been reduced by 200 kg.

In the near future, the Long March 8A will help deploy a large number of satellites for China's massive space internet networks. Song said all of the rocket's launches will take place at the Wenchang Space Launch Center and the Hainan International Commercial Space Launch Center. China is building multiple internet satellite networks, but has not disclosed much information about those projects.