On December 22nd at 04:37 UTC, the first Long March 8 lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center.

The Long March 8 uses a core stage with two K2 boosters. The first stage and the boosters use a combination of RP-1, a highly refined form of kerosene, and liquid oxygen (LOX), while the second stage uses a combination of liquid hydrogen and LOX.

The payload consisted of five relatively small satellites with various missions. From what we have been able to determine, some of the satellites were communication satellites, while at least one was an Ethiopian earth observation 6U CubeSat satellite known as ET-SMART-RSS, which will be operated by the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute and was built with the assistance of a Chinese company called Smart Satellite Technology.

More Information

CASC press release (Chinese)

Xinhua Net article (Chinese)

Sina News article (Chinese)

XJY 7 info page (Gunter’s Space Page)