CAS Space completes fourth successful Kinetica 1 rocket flight
by Simon Mansfield
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 26, 2024

CAS Space, a rocket manufacturing company owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has completed the fourth flight of its Kinetica 1 rocket model on Wednesday morning. The rocket, designated Kinetica 1-Y4, launched at 7:33 am from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, successfully placing five satellites into orbit.

The flight marked the latest in the series, with "Y4" indicating the fourth iteration of the Kinetica 1 model. This rocket series made its debut in July 2022 and, at the time, became China's largest and most powerful solid-propellant rocket. Since then, Kinetica 1 has completed three additional flights, including a launch in June 2023 that delivered 26 satellites into orbit, and another in January of this year, which deployed five satellites.

The Kinetica 1 rocket measures 30 meters in length, with a diameter of 2.65 meters, and weighs 135 metric tons at liftoff. It is designed to carry payloads weighing up to 1.5 tons to a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of approximately 500 kilometers.

To date, the Kinetica 1 series has successfully deployed 42 satellites in total, maintaining a perfect success rate across all its launches.

CAS Space is now focusing on developing a new model, the Kinetica 2, with a maiden flight planned for 2025. Additionally, the company has constructed a rocket production facility in Guangzhou's Nansha district, the first of its kind in South China's Guangdong province, and is building a rocket engine testing facility in Aotou township, Guangzhou.

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