China CAS Space Kinetica-2 Y2 Launch of 18 Qianfan Internet Satellites
CAS Space’s Kinetica-2 (Lijian-2) launch vehicle lifted off at 8:15am China Standard Time (00:15 am Universal Coordinated Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, heading for a polar orbit to deliver a group of eighteen connectivity satellites for only its third commercial outing.
In this mission, Kinetica-2 Y2 delivered >5t payloads to 800km polar orbit.
The eighteen Qianfan connectivity satellites, make up its seventeenth launched group. They were manufactured by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, Chinese Academy of Sciences, allowing the constellation’s cumulative launched count to reach 274.
The Qianfan mega-constellation, also referred to as SpaceSail, is operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies Co. Ltd. (aiming to provide space-based Internet connectivity services in China and abroad in places including Brazil, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Türkiye, and via airlines, beginning before the end of this year.
Costing under 10 million Yuan (1.47 million United States Dollars) a piece, each Qianfan satellite weighs 300 kilograms with a ‘flat pack’ design, using a single solar array, to fit as many satellites as possible inside the rocket fairing in two parallel stacks. For maneuvering in orbit, each satellite has an electric hall-effect thruster burning krypton.
By launching today’s group of Qianfan satellites, CAS Space has become the third firm in China’s commercial space sector to perform a deployment for the constellation, also being its largest by a non-state-owned launch vehicle. They follow missions performed by LandSpace and Orienspace in mid-September, deploying ten and eight satellites respectively.
To date, CAS Space states that they have served almost forty domestic and global clients since mid-2022 by launching 140 spacecraft into orbit. Their cumulative launched mass is around 27,000 kilograms with about 9,000 kilograms delivered by Kinetica-2.
Today’s launch was the second mission for Kinetica-2, and the 18th for CAS Space through its Kinetica family of launch vehicles. This was also the 77th launch from China in 2026.
CAS Space is a commercial spaceflight company established by the Institute of Mechanics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Article Credit: Jack C.
Duration: 16 seconds
Date: Nov. 2, 2026
No comments:
Post a Comment