Kinetica 1
ActiveCAS Space (CAS)
July 27, 2022
Description
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.
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
Commercial
None
CAS 2018CAS 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.
Kinetica 1 | 5 satellites
CAS Space | ChinaJiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
May 15, 2026, 4:33 a.m.
Kinetica 1 | 8 x Jilin-1
CAS Space | ChinaJiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
April 14, 2026, 4:03 a.m.
Kinetica 1 | 9 satellites
CAS Space | ChinaJiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Dec. 10, 2025, 4:03 a.m.
Kinetica 1 | Chutian-2 01 & 02
CAS Space | ChinaJiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Nov. 9, 2025, 3:32 a.m.
Kinetica 1 | PRSC-HS1 & AIRSAT-03/04
CAS Space | ChinaJiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Oct. 19, 2025, 3:33 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
* PRSC-HS1 is a hyperspectral Earth observation satellite for SUPARCO of Pakistan. * AIRSAT-03/04 are 2 X-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Earth observation satellite made by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with 0.5 meter resolution. AIRSAT-03 is built for TerraXpace of Malaysia.
Sun-Synchronous OrbitKinetica 1 | 7 satellites
CAS Space | ChinaJiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Aug. 19, 2025, 7:33 a.m.
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