Solid Progress: Three solid-fuelled rockets move towards launch
Kinetica-1, Ceres-1, and Gravity-1 are making solid progress towards launch in the last third of 2024.
CAS Space, Galactic Energy, and OrienSpace are all preparing for the next launches of their commercially developed solid-fuel launch vehicles. For CAS Space this would be the Y4 mission of Kinetica-1, the Y3 mission of Galactic Energy’s Ceres-1S, and likely the Y2 launch of OrienSpace’s Gravity-1 vehicle.
Chinese companies, state-owned and private, use Y followed by a number to serialize launch mission numbering, similar to NASA with STS. If there are any problems with translations in this post feel free to reach out to me.
Gravity-1 Y2
On August 22nd it was reported by Peninsula Metropolis Daily (半岛都市报) that OrienSpace was in the horizontal assembly stage for its second Gravity-1 launch vehicle. Reporters from Peninsula Metropolis Daily were invited to tour OrienSpace’s facility at the Haiyang Oriental Spaceport, located on the Yellow Sea to support sea-based launches, on August 17th.
During the tour, it was explained to the reporters that the horizontal assembly stage was for the installation of the vehicle’s various components needed to collect data and ultimately guide the rocket. This horizontal assembly stage is expected to take one month according to Yu Jichao (于继超), a general manager at OrienSpace.
It is unknown when the horizontal assembly stage began, but vertical assembly is expected to begin shortly afterward. The vertical assembly stage will bring the various solid rocket motors and structures together to assemble a Gravity-1 vehicle.
Continuing the tour, Wang Wuqin (王武钦), a project manager at OrienSpace, told reporters the following about Gravity-1 production:
"Rocket assembly currently relies mainly on manual installation rather than mechanical automation, so the production cycle of a rocket is still relatively long, and the fulfillment cycle of a satellite launch is about half a year." — "Inside the spaceport, OrienSpace's new factory building will soon be delivered, with more space to realize the rolling production of two to three rockets, and the annual output is expected to reach the assembly, testing and launching of more than six rockets in the short term."
Toward the end of the article, it was stated that OrienSpace has been working to have components for Gravity-1 produced in the province of Shandong, the same province where the vehicle is assembled ahead of sea-based launches.
A launch date was not shared with the reporters, only that it would take place later this year.
If you can read Chinese or just want to look at some pretty images, I encourage you to read the full article by Peninsula Metropolis Daily (半岛都市报). It's an intriguing read.
Kinetica-1 Y4
CAS Space announced on August 23rd that it had shipped the Kinetica-1 Y4 vehicle from its industrial base, in the city of Guangzhou in Guangdong province, ahead of launch in September. According to the company, the Y4 vehicle has completed all testing and production milestones capable of being performed inside its Guangzhou facility.
Video via CAS Space on Weibo.
CAS Space also shared that it has made various optimizations inside its Guangzhou facility. Such as improved quality control processes, synchronized production of components and structures, and a refined internal layout for faster and more space-efficient vehicle production.
Once the Y4 vehicle arrives at CAS Space’s launch site inside the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center it will be assembled horizontally, and await its payloads. Kinetica-1 will be moved to a vertical position in the hours before launch.
The company also doesn’t expect Y4 to be the final Kinetica-1 launch of the year, with an unknown number of launches also being worked towards.
Details were not shared about the payloads, likely at the request of the customer, beyond that it will be a batch of five remote-sensing satellites.
Ceres-1S Y3
Galactic Energy’s next Ceres-1S launch is believed to currently be targeting no earlier than August 29th, from a sea-launch platform in the Yellow Sea. The payloads for this launch are currently unknown, but the last two sea launches both launched four Tianqi satellites.
This launch was originally slated for mid-June, then the end of June, before being eventually delayed to the end of August.
Ceres-1S is the sea launch variant of Galactic Energy’s Ceres-1 launch vehicle.
What are these launch vehicles?
This section is for those less familiar with China's commercial launch vehicles. Descriptions via my work for Cosmic Nxws.
Gravity-1
Gravity-1 is a three-stage launch vehicle that burns solid fuel in all of its stages. The rocket can also be configured to include a kick-stage that burns rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen using a liquid rocket engine.
The Gravity-1 launch vehicle can carry up to 6,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit or 4,200 kilograms to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.
The first-stage is comprised of four solid rocket boosters burning an unspecified solid propellant to generate 150 tons of thrust each. The second-stage is a high-altitude optimized solid rocket booster burning the same unspecified solid propellant to generate an unknown amount of thrust. The third-stage is another high-altitude optimized solid rocket booster burning the same unspecified solid propellant to generate an unknown amount of thrust.
On its launch platform, the vehicle is 30 meters tall and weighs 405,000 kilograms.
Kinetica-1
Kinetica-1 is a four-stage launch vehicle that burns solid fuel in all four stages.
The Kinetica-1 launch vehicle can carry up to 2,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit or 1,500 kilograms to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.
The first-stage is propelled by a solid rocket booster that burns an undisclosed solid fuel to produce 200 tons of thrust. The second-stage is propelled by another solid rocket booster that generates 110 tons of thrust using the same unidentified solid propellant. The third-stage is propelled by another solid rocket booster that generates 110 tons of thrust using the same undisclosed solid propellant. The fourth-stage is propelled by a solid rocket booster, which burns the same unidentified solid propellant to provide 8 tons of thrust.
On its launch pad, Kinetica-1 weighs 135,000 kilograms and stands at 30 meters tall.
Ceres-1/1S
Ceres-1, and its sea launch version called Ceres-1S, is a four-stage launch vehicle that burns solid fuel in the first three stages, and a storable propellant in the fourth-stage. The fourth-stage can also be replaced with the company’s Eros orbital test platform.
The Ceres-1 launch vehicle can carry up to 400 kilograms to low Earth orbit or 300 kilograms to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronus orbit.
The first-stage is powered by a solid rocket motor that burns an undisclosed solid propellant to produce 60 tons of thrust. The second-stage also burns an undisclosed solid propellant to produce 28 tons of thrust. The third-stage is the final solid rocket stage, once again burning an undisclosed solid propellant, producing 8.8 tons of thrust. The fourth-stage burns a storable liquid propellant in an ‘attitude control thruster’ to generate 1 ton of thrust.
On the launchpad, Ceres-1 weighs 33,000 kilograms and stands 20 meters tall.