Qingzhou Spacecraft Demo Flight

Overview

Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Mission: Test Flight

Low Earth Orbit Launch Area 140 Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

First test launch and mission of CAS Space’s Kinetica-2 rocket and Qingzhou cargo resupply spacecraft for future cargo transport to the Chinese Tiangong Space Station under a commercial contract from the CMSEO. This launch might be carrying a batch of LEO communication satellites for an unidentified customer to polar orbit as secondary payload.

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • March 29, 2026, 5:01 p.m.

Updating launch date and time based on old information of possible secondary payload. Assignment of this launch to the launch listed in this launch window is highly uncertain.


Cosmic_Penguin • March 28, 2026, 12:25 p.m.

May possibly be linked with planned launch on March 30, with high uncertainties.


Cosmic_Penguin • March 21, 2026, 6:36 p.m.

Updated planned payload information.


Cosmic_Penguin • Dec. 1, 2025, 4:44 p.m.

Added launch.


Kinetica 2

Family:
Configuration:

Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    52.0 m
  • Diameter
    3.35 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    4.2 m
  • Launch Mass
    625.0 T
  • Thrust
    7515.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Kinetica 2
  • Family
  • Variant
  • Alias
    PR-2
  • Full Name
    Kinetica 2
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
  • Low Earth Orbit
    12000.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity
    8000.0 kg

CAS Space

CAS Space

(CAS)

Founded: 2018 Successes: 10 Failures: 1 Pending: 1

Agency Type:

CAS Space is a spin-off company from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) that is operating and plans to operate various launch vehicles of the Zhongke series.

INFO WIKI

Related News

SpaceNews

CAS Space to launch Kinetica-2 in late March carrying prototype cargo spacecraft

Chinese launch firm CAS Space is preparing for the inaugural launch of its reusable Kinetica-2 liquid rocket in late March, carrying a prototype cargo spacecraft. The post CAS Space to launch Kinetica-2 in late March carrying prototype ca…

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Launch Area 140


Electron
Success
1 day, 10 hours ago
Daughter Of The Stars (LEO-PNT Pathfinder A)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

The European Space Agency (ESA)'s LEO-PNT (Low Earth Orbit Positioning, Navigation and Timing) demonstrator mission will feature a 10-satellite const…


Long March 2C/YZ-1S
Success
2 days, 15 hours ago
Shiyan 33
Launch Area 94 (SLS-2 / 603) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Chinese satellite reported to be for "space environment research" purposes. Actual usage not known.


Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 20 hours ago
Starlink Group 17-17
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 25 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 2D
Success
3 days, 21 hours ago
SuperView Neo 2-05 & 06
Launch Complex 9 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Commercial Synthetic-aperture radar Earth observation satellites built by CAST for China Siwei Survey and Mapping Technology Co. Ltd.


Soyuz 2.1b
Success
6 days, 2 hours ago
16 x Rassvet-3
43/4 (43R) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Payload identities uncertain. Batch of 16 Rassvet-3 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Russian Byuro-1440 (Bureau 1440) conste…


Smart Dragon 3
Success
1 week ago
10 x CentiSpace-1
Haiyang offshore launch location - Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

Chinese commercial small satellites by Beijing-based company Future Navigation for providing GNSS augmentation signals services from LEO. They are pa…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week ago
Starlink Group 10-62
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Soyuz 2.1a
Success
1 week ago
Progress MS-33 (94P)
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 1 day ago
Starlink Group 17-15
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 25 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Electron
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
Eight Days A Week (StriX Launch 8)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.