China launches new rocket designed to carry more satellites

12/2/2025 6:10

A new Chinese carrier rocket designed to send up bigger batches of satellites in one launch made its first flight on Tuesday, boosting Beijing's strategy of countering U.S. billionaire Elon Musk's oversized presence in Earth's lower orbits via SpaceX.



The heavy-lift Long March 8A blasted off for its maiden flight at 5:30 p.m. (0930 GMT) from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, carrying a group of low-Earth orbit satellites.



The Long March 8A is a modified version of the medium-lift Long March 8 rocket that began flights in 2020. It has an enhanced payload capacity of seven tonnes, allowing China to send larger clusters of satellites into low and medium-Earth orbits in one launch, according to China Aerospace Science and

Technology Group Corporation (CASC).