Overview
- The Long March-8A lifted off from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site at 7:26 a.m. Beijing Time on December 26, 2025.
- Officials reported that all 17 spacecraft were inserted into their designated low Earth orbits.
- The new tranche supports China’s plan to expand high-speed connectivity and reduce the digital divide in hard-to-serve regions.
- Long March-8A is promoted as a vehicle for both commercial and government missions with a focus on reliability and versatile payload capacity.
- The mission extends a fast launch cadence highlighted by three Long March flights within 19 hours earlier in December.