BEIJING, December 22. /TASS/. China carried out the first successful launch of the newest launch vehicle CZ-8 ("Changzheng-8", English name Long March 8) on Tuesday with five satellites on board, reported China Central Television.

According to the news outlet, the launch took place from the Wenchang cosmodrome (southern Hainan province) at 12:37 local time (07:37 Moscow time). After 15 minutes, the rocket reached heliosynchronous orbit at an altitude of 512 km. Then five satellites separated from it: one experimental apparatus and four private probes.

This launch marks the 356th launch for the Changzheng series launch vehicles.

The CZ-8 is a two-stage medium launch vehicle with low-temperature liquid propellant engines running on eco-friendly fuel. Unlike other rockets in this series, the CZ-8 runs on liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen — the result of their combustion is water, which makes this engine harmless to the environment. They are designed to launch spacecraft into geo- and heliosynchronous orbits.

Another feature of this rocket is that its design provides for the possibility of reusing the first stage engine and two upper stages — after takeoff, they must make a soft landing. This greatly reduces the cost of each launch, which makes the rocket especially attractive for commercial use.