Space Launch Now - Kinetica 1

Kinetica 1

Active

CAS 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 2018

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.

Previous Flights

flew on 11 previous launch(es).

Kinetica 1 | 9 satellites

CAS Space | China
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Dec. 10, 2025, 4:03 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Share ride of 9 satellites to sun-synchronous orbit: * Satellite 813 (United Arab Emirates) * Jilin-1 Gaofen 07B-01/07C-01/07D-01 * Dongpo-15 * Yixing-2 09 * Yixian-A * SPNEX (Egypt) * Slipper2Sat (Nepal)

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Kinetica 1 | Chutian-2 01 & 02

CAS Space | China
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Nov. 9, 2025, 3:32 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

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.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Kinetica 1 | PRSC-HS1 & AIRSAT-03/04

CAS Space | China
Jiuquan 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 Orbit

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Kinetica 1 | 7 satellites

CAS Space | China
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Aug. 19, 2025, 7:33 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

A share ride mission of 7 various Earth observation and technological demonstration satellites: * AIRSAT-05/Haishao-2 * Tianyan 26 * Duogongneng Shiyan-2 01-03 * ThumbSat-1/2 (Mexico)

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Kinetica 1 | 6 satellites

CAS Space | China
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
May 21, 2025, 4:05 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Carried 6 satellites to Sun-synchronous orbit, including commercial Earth observation satellites Taijing-3-04 & Taijing-4-02A: * Taijing-3-04 * Taijing-4-02A * Xingrui-11 * Xiguang-1 02 * Xingjiyuan-1 * Cube-108 001

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Kinetica 1 | DEAR-3 & 10 other satellites

CAS Space | China
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Dec. 27, 2024, 1:03 a.m.

Status: Launch Failure

Mission:

Launched 11 satellites including AZSPACE's DEAR-3 prototype recoverable science experiment spacecraft and the French CASAA-Sat cubesat from the Marseille Astrophysics Laboratory.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Kinetica 1 | 15 satellites

CAS Space | China
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Nov. 11, 2024, 4:03 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Launch of 15 satellites on share-ride to SSO: * Shiyan 26 A/B/C * Jilin-1 High Resolution-05B * Jilin-1 Platform-02A-03 * Yunyao-1 31-36 * Xiguang-1-04/05 * Tianyan-24 * Omani IRSS-1/OL-1

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Kinetica 1 | 5 satellites

CAS Space | China
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Sept. 24, 2024, 11:33 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Carried 5 satellites to Sun-synchronous orbit: * Zhongke-01/02 * Jilin-1 SAR-01A * Yunyao-21/22

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Kinetica 1 | Flight 3

CAS Space | China
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Jan. 23, 2024, 4:03 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Carries 5 Earth and spatial observation satellites manufactured by MINOSPACE; details TBD: * Taijing-1-03 * Taijing-2-02 * Taijing-2-04 * Taijing-3-02 * Taijing-4-03

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Kinetica 1 | Flight 2

CAS Space | China
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
June 7, 2023, 4:10 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Will carry 26 different satellites on a ride-share launch mission, including Earth observation satellites, details TBD.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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Kinetica 1 | Maiden Flight

CAS Space | China
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
July 27, 2022, 4:12 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Carried 6 satellites to sun-synchronous orbit, including the prototype X-ray astronomy observation satellite SATech 01, Jinan 1 and 4 other technological demonstration satellites from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

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