A larger GuoWang satellite platform roughly 30 percent bigger and weighing up to 1,000 kilograms is launched via Long March 5B and Long March 6A.

The Long March 8A first stage and boosters are powered by YF-100 engines with two YF-100 engines on the core and one on each of the two boosters, producing a combined thrust of 490 tons at liftoff.

On the launchpad the core-alone Long March 8A stands 50.5 meters tall and weighs 371,000 kilograms when fully fueled.

China Satellite Network Group plans to provide worldwide internet services while prioritizing China-focused services initially.

Both GuoWang small and large platforms utilize electric propulsion systems and are powered on orbit by two solar panels.

The March 13, 2026 mission was the 8th launch of a Long March 8A vehicle, the 12th launch of the Long March 8 series, and the 631st launch of the Long March launch vehicle series.

The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology plans to optimize rotating shifts and deepen professional literacy to cultivate Long March 8A launch team talent.

China plans to deploy 310 GuoWang satellites in 2026, 900 in 2027, and 3,600 per year beginning in 2028 to sustain and grow the constellation.

The Long March 8A is an improved, more cost-efficient upgrade of the Long March 8 developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.

The Long March 8A performed its debut flight from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in February 2025.

The Long March 8A second stage is equipped with two YF-75DA engines that produce 20 tons of thrust.

The Long March 8A uses a two-and-a-half-stage design with rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen in its first stage and boosters, and liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in its second stage.

A Long March 8A launched from Commercial Launch Pad 1 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site at 03:48 China Standard Time on March 13, 2026 (19:48 UTC on March 12, 2026).

The March 13, 2026 Long March 8A carried a group of satellites into low Earth orbit.

GuoWang small satellite platforms launched on Long March 8A and Long March 12 weigh about 695 kilograms each.

The March 13, 2026 mission was the 11th launch from China in 2026.

The twentieth group of GuoWang satellites rode atop the March 13, 2026 Long March 8A, with nine satellites placed into orbit.

The Long March 8 series, including Long March 8 and 8A, is set to fly fifteen times in total in 2026, requiring thirteen more flights over the next nine and a half months.

The March 13, 2026 flight marked the start of the second year of Long March 8A launch operations.

After the March 13, 2026 launch, 163 GuoWang spacecraft were in space and flying to their operational orbits.

China projects that up to 13,000 GuoWang satellites could be in operational orbit in the 2030s.

The Long March 8A payload capacity is 9,800 kilograms to low Earth orbit, 7,000 kilograms to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit, 6,800 kilograms to a 900-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit, and 3,500 kilograms to geostationary transfer orbit.

The Long March 8A is currently flown from the Wenchang Space Launch Site and the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site in Hainan province.

China Satellite Network Group operates the GuoWang (国网) constellation and is a state-owned enterprise wholly backed by the Chinese government.

The Long March 8A first and second stages have a diameter of 3.35 meters, the two boosters have a diameter of 2.25 meters, and the fairing is available in diameters of 4.2 or 5.2 meters.

The FAA maintains that the withdrawal of the NPRM does not preclude future rulemaking on orbital debris mitigation.

SpaceX argued that the FAA underestimated the costs and impacts of the mandate while overstating its safety benefits.

The Federal Aviation Administration withdrew a proposal that would have required commercial launch providers to remove rocket upper stages from Earth orbit within 25 years.

U.S. rocket companies abandoned 41 upper stages in orbit over the last three years, 33 of which remain identified as potential collision hazards.

The withdrawn Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was titled "Mitigation Methods for Launch Vehicle Upper Stages on the Creation of Orbital Debris."

SpaceX Starship experienced mishaps in January 2026 and March 2026 that increased concerns about falling debris.

The FAA formally withdrew the NPRM on January 15, 2026.

ProPublica published an investigation on March 12, 2026 that detailed the FAA decision to withdraw the NPRM.

The FAA cited the need for further study of the economic impact on the launch industry and a reevaluation of its legal authority to enforce orbital debris standards as reasons for the withdrawal.

SpaceX and United Launch Alliance led industry opposition to the debris disposal mandate.

The FAA issued Safety Alert for Operators SAFO 26001 in early January 2026 warning airline pilots of the potential extreme safety risk posed by falling space debris.

The FAA intends to review its authority to regulate orbital debris mitigation and to review space launch industry cost inputs as part of its follow-up work.

The withdrawn NPRM was first introduced in September 2023.

The FAA is transitioning all launch and reentry licenses to the Part 450 framework by March 10, 2026.

AndroMach is also developing a larger orbital concept called Étoile that depends on an expendable launch rocket in its current design.

The Challenger orbiter disintegrated 73 seconds after launch on 28 January 1986 during mission STS-51-L due to O-ring failures in a solid rocket booster, killing all seven crew members including Christa McAuliffe.

Space Rider is an uncrewed ESA vehicle planned to be launched on a Vega-C rocket and to land as a glider, but the Vega-C launch vehicle is expended during the mission so the overall system is not fully reusable.

The ESA public call restricts participation to small and medium-sized enterprises and startups, excluding large contractors.

A total of 355 astronauts from 16 countries flew aboard the five operational Space Shuttle orbiters Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour.

FAST Aerospace, founded in Italy in 2024, is developing the HyperDart system consisting of a 16-meter unmanned mothership that would carry a disposable rocket to 25 kilometers altitude for orbital launch.

The ESA public call seeks at least two distinct design concepts for a completely reusable spaceplane system.

The Dream Chaser spacecraft developed by Sierra Space is a civil spaceplane derivative intended to perform cargo resupply missions to the ISS and will be launched on a conventional rocket.

Dawn Aerospace is headquartered in New Zealand and develops the Aurora spaceplane with ambitions of flying twice a day, and it maintains a European subsidiary in the Netherlands focused on propulsion and rapid reuse solutions.

The Space Shuttle orbiters placed more than 1,800 tonnes of payload into orbit.

The X-37B is an unmanned, reusable spaceplane operated by the United States Space Force that conducts long-duration orbital missions.