CAS Space Delivers Test Satellites for Remote Sensing Constellation [Kinetica-1 Y9]
Special items for the 15th National Games were launched alongside.
From Launch Area 130 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 11:32 am China Standard Time (03:32 Universal Coordinated Time) on November 9th, CAS Space’s Kinetica-1 lifted off and headed into sun-synchronous orbit carrying two satellites.
Being launched were the Chutian-2-01 and Chutian-2-02 (楚天二号技术试验01星,02星) technology testing satellites. Based on reports from April 2024, the two satellites may make up part of the testing phase of a constellation of three hundred satellites to provide regular remote sensing imaging, across various sensor bands, anywhere on Earth every fifteen minutes.
The government of Hubei (河北) province and the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (中国航天科工集团有限公司) are reportedly partners for the Chutian satellites. Few details about the satellites are available, but they may maneuver down to very low Earth orbit (between 160 and 400 kilometers) like another test satellite did in 2024.
For this mission, Kinetica-1 was painted with slogans for the upcoming National Games of the People’s Republic of China (中华人民共和国全国运动会) being hosted primarily in Guangzhou (广州市) as well as across the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area. Those slogans read ‘I love Guangzhou’ (我爱广州) and ‘Guangzhou: Partnership with You’ (广州广阔 与您合伙). Stamps from the previous National Games hosted in Guangzhou were also attached to the fourth-stage, allowing them to reside in orbit until a controlled reentry is performed.
CAS Space is also from Guangzhou, so they took the opportunity to thank the city after flying their slogans and stamps, with Founder and Chairman Yang Yiqiang (杨毅强) stating:
“As a commercial aerospace company rooted in Guangzhou, we deeply understand that every rocket launch is not only a technological leap, but also an extension of the city’s spirit—just as the Pearl River flows into the sea, Guangzhou’s openness has always driven us to explore the unknown.”
If there are any problems with this translation please reach out and correct me.
Today’s launch was the 10th launch for Kinetica-1 and for CAS Space. This was also the 71st launch from China in 2025.
Launch video via 中科宇航 on Weibo.
Check out the previous launch from CAS Space
Pakistan Launches Privately With CAS Space [Kinetica-1 Y8]
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At 11:33 am China Standard Time (03:33 am Universal Coordinated Time) on October 19th, CAS Space’s Kinetica-1 rocket blasted off from Launch Area 130 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, carrying three satellites into sun-synchronous orbit.
What is Kinetica-1?
This section is for those less familiar with China’s various commercial launch vehicles.
Kinetica-1 is CAS Space’s first launch vehicle and consists of four stages, all burning solid fuel. CAS Space offers the ability to launch a single satellite to utilize all of the rocket’s payload capacity, however more ‘rideshare’ missions occur for multiple satellites to be delivered in one launch.
The payload capacity of the launch vehicle is currently as follows:
2,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit
1,500 kilograms to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit
The first-stage is powered by a solid rocket booster that burns an unspecified solid fuel, generating 200 tons of thrust. The second-stage is also powered by a solid rocket booster, producing 110 tons of thrust with the same unidentified propellant. The-third stage, also using the undisclosed propellant, generates 45 tons of thrust. Finally, the fourth-stage is powered by another solid rocket booster, providing 8 tons of thrust with the same solid propellant.
On its launch pad, Kinetica-1 stands at 30 meters tall. The first two stages have a diameter of 2.65 meters, the fairing has a diameter of either 2.65 or 3.35 meters. When prepared for launch Kinetica-1 weighs a believed 135,000 kilograms.
So far, Kinetica-1 has flown all of its missions from CAS Space’s launch facility at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
It's interesting how they're integrating the propaganda with the actual space tech here, kinda wild to see. With a remote sensing constellation this massive, I'm really curious about the data governance and prvacy implications, especially considering the government partnership.