China CAS Space Lijian-1 Rocket Launches 9 Satellites
China successfully launched nine satellites, including the Qinling-1, Qinling-2, and PEGA-SUS1, from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China at 12:03 (Beijing Time) Sunday, September 20, 2026.
The satellites were carried by a Lijian-1 Y18 carrier rocket and have entered their planned orbits.
The Lijian-1 (Kinetica-1), developed by Chinese commercial space company CAS Space, is a solid-fuel carrier rocket featuring rapid-response capabilities.
The launch mission was a complete success. This launch was the 16th launch for Kinetica-1, and the 17th for CAS Space through its Kinetica family of launch vehicles. This was also the 68th launch from China in 2026.
This Kinetica-1 flight brought the start of another orbital computing constellation into space, and a communication-computing spacecraft demonstrator, alongside seven satellites designed to look back at Earth.
The Chaozhisuan-1 satellite is to be the first of a constellation to be deployed under the same name, of potentially thousands of spacecraft under an alliance established in March 2026 with notable members being Zhipu AI, SenseTime, Beijing Wenge Technology Co. Ltd. and Tsinghua University.
Peng Cheng Laboratory and the Southern University of Science and Technology, both based in Shenzhen, had their GalaxySpace-made 150-kilogram PEGA-SUS1 multi-purpose demonstrator satellite placed into orbit. From space, the satellite will verify its ability to serve as a 5G non-terrestrial network base station, demonstrate a 100 gigabits per second optical laser communication link, and prove artificial intelligence-enabled data processing provided by onboard compute. If it can prove all three, involved companies hope that it will open the way for further integration of space-based communications and computing.
Developed by entities under the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), the Pujiang-4 carbon dioxide and methane emission monitoring satellite was deployed. This satellite will keep watch of known, and highlight abnormal, emission sources found within a 30-kilometer-wide observation area. Monitoring is mainly planned to be conducted on sources within China, to help meet climate goals, but global sources can be observed, also.
A niche trio of satellites launched among the rest is Diting-1A, 1B, and 1C designed to monitor electromagnetic frequencies and their emitting locations for a variety of customers. The trio is operated by Tianjin Xingkan Jiuzhou Technology, while being produced by Changguang Satellite Technology Co. Ltd.
Lastly, there is ‘Yunxiao Pathfinder Satellite' reported to be tasked with remote sensing. The satellite belongs to the Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Duration: 51 seconds
Date: Sept. 20, 2026
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