Kinetica-1, also known as 'Lijian-1', is a solid-fuel launch vehicle developed by the Chinese commercial space launch services enterprise CAS Space. This launch vehicle is 30 m (98 ft) tall and consists of four all solid fuel stages. It is the largest Chinese solid propellant launcher to date. The Kinetica-1 rocket is capable of lifting 1.65 tons to SSO (sun-synchronous orbit) at an altitude of 500 km or 2.20 tons to LEO (low-earth orbit). Because of its design, the Kinetica-1 rocket is often called the Chinese answer to the European VEGA launcher. After the first ground tests, which took place in November 2021, Kinetica-1 performed its maiden flight on 27 July 2022, successfully positioning six satellites in SSO (sun-synchronous orbit). For the second flight, the Kinetica-1 carried a cluster of 26 minisatellites into SSO, prepared by various national research institutes, together with an Earth observation satellite, equipped with SAR Radar (Synthetic Aperture Radar), called Fucheng -1. CAS Space was founded in 2018 and is partially owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Learn all about the different launches of the Kinetica-1 commercial rocket from the Chinese space company CAS Space thanks to this overview!
Kinetica-1 (Lijian-1) launch overview
SATech 01
Images: CAS Space
