Chutian-2 01 & 02

Overview

Destination: Sun-Synchronous Orbit
Mission: Earth Science

Sun-Synchronous Orbit Launch Area 130 Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

2 satellites built by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) for testing operations of Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) satellites for Earth observation purposes.

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • Nov. 3, 2025, 5:35 a.m.

Added launch per NOTAMs; Payload identities uncertain.


Cosmic_Penguin • Nov. 6, 2025, 7:53 a.m.

Delayed to November 14 per new NOTAMs.


Cosmic_Penguin • Nov. 7, 2025, 2:11 a.m.

Moved back up to November 9 per NOTAMs.


Cosmic_Penguin • Nov. 9, 2025, 4:10 a.m.

Launch success.


Kinetica 1

Family:
Configuration:

Kinetica 1 (also known as Lijian-1, Chinese: 力箭一号) is a Chinese solid-propellant light launch vehicle. It is capable of placing about 2 tons into low earth orbit and 1.5 tons into sun-synchronous orbit. It is developed by CAS Space, a subsidiary of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Kinetica 1 is a light launcher whose first stage seems to be derived from the DF-31 long-range intercontinental ballistic missile. It is 30 m high and has a diameter of 2.65 m, with a liftoff mass of 135 t. It's the largest Chinese solid propellant launcher to date, with four stages with a thrust of 200, 100, 50 and 10 tons respectively. The fairing has a diameter of 3.35 meters.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    4
  • Length
    30.0 m
  • Diameter
    2.65 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    3.35 m
  • Launch Mass
    135.0 T
  • Thrust
    1961.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Kinetica 1
  • Family
    ―
  • Variant
    ―
  • Alias
    ―
  • Full Name
    Kinetica 1
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    ―
  • Low Earth Orbit
    2000.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    ―
  • Direct Geostationary
    ―
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity
    1500.0 kg

CAS Space

CAS Space

(CAS)

Founded: 2018 Successes: 16 Failures: 1 Pending: 0

Agency Type:

CAS Space is a spin-off company from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) that is operating and plans to operate various launch vehicles of the Zhongke series.

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Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

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