CAS Space

Guangzhou Zhongke Aerospace Exploration Technology Co., Ltd.
Trade name	CAS Space
Native name	广州中科宇航探索技术有限公司
Industry	Launch service provider
Founded	April 2018; 6 years ago in Beijing, China
Headquarters	Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Website	www.cas-space.com

CAS Space (Chinese: 中科宇航) is a Chinese commercial space launch provider based in Guangzhou. It was founded in 2018 and majority owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.^[1]^[2]

History

CAS Space was founded in Beijing, but the company is now headquartered in Guangzhou, China, while its Beijing location continues to be its primary R&D center. The company has constructed its dedicated launch pad and facilities at the JSLC.^[2] The launch pad is considered the first launch pad in China built for commercial use. The company has multiple subsidiaries, including a Guangzhou-based subsidiary responsible for the operation of its aerospace technology and industry base, and a Xi'an-based subsidiary for propulsion system.^[2]

CAS Space aims to materialize research projects from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and is dedicated to space exploration, research, and providing launch services. The company is currently developing the Kinetica rocket family. The enterprise's motto is "Go above and beyond," or "无畏向上无限可能" as it is publicized in Chinese.^[2]

Rockets

Kinetica 1

CAS Space's first solid-fuel launch vehicle Kinetica 1 (Lijian-1, PR-1)^[3]^[4] is 30 m (98 ft) tall, 2.65 m (8 ft 8 in) in diameter and weighs 135 t (149 tons). It consists of four solid fuel stages. The Kinetica 1 is capable of lifting 1.5 t (1.65 tons) to SSO at an altitude of 500 km or 2 t (2.20 tons) to LEO.^[5]^[6]

Kinetica 2, and 2H

The Kinetica 2 is a medium-lift liquid propellant rocket. It is scheduled for its debut flight in 2025, with plans for the first stage and booster recovery by 2027.^[7] Featuring a CBC design, it boasts a core stage with a diameter of 3.35 meters and stretches 53 meters in length. It is capable of delivering payloads up to 7.8 tons to SSO at 500 km altitude and 12 tons to LEO.^[8] The Kinetica 2H variant is capable of delivering payloads up to 12 tons to SSO at an altitude of 500 km.^[9]

Kinetica 3

The Kinetica 3, a reusable vehicle, will be capable of delivering payloads up to 20 tons to SSO at an altitude of 500 km.^[9]

Space Tourism Vehicle

In August 2021, CAS Space announced that it was developing a single-stage sub-orbital space tourism vehicle similar to Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket. The vehicle, consisting of a booster and capsule, would be powered by five Xuanyuan engines. An uncrewed demonstration flight is expected to take place in 2022, followed by a full-fledged uncrewed suborbital flight in 2023, with tourism service set to begin in 2024.^[10]^[11] The timeline for achieving mature, round-trip suborbital space tourism has been extended to 2030.^[7]

References

^ "Launch of powerful new carrier rocket expected in 2022". english.www.gov.cn.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "关于我们 - 中科宇航". www.cas-space.com. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
^ "CAS SPACE". en.cas-space.com. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
^ "China aims to complete space station in another huge year in space". 3 January 2022.
^ "产品信息 - 中科宇航". www.cas-space.com. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
^ "Guangzhou moves to establish Chinese commercial space cluster". SpaceNews. April 6, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "中科宇航提升火箭发射效率——航班化发射卫星渐成现实". www.ce.cn. 2024-03-29. Retrieved 2024-04-04.
^ "力箭二号液体运载火箭将于2025年首飞，拟执行重要发射任务". Weixin.com. 2024-01-11.
^ ^a ^b "我国商业火箭发展概况". 2024-03-06. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
^ Andrew Jones published (2021-10-04). "Chinese company aims for suborbital space tourism with familiar rocket design". Space.com. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
^ "A Chinese New Shepard? CAS Space Eyes Space Tourism - Dongfang Hour". 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2022-06-07.

[1] "Launch of powerful new carrier rocket expected in 2022". english.www.gov.cn.

[:0-2] "关于我们 - 中科宇航". www.cas-space.com. Retrieved 2022-07-25.

[3] "CAS SPACE". en.cas-space.com. Retrieved 2023-03-01.

[4] "China aims to complete space station in another huge year in space". 3 January 2022.

[5] "产品信息 - 中科宇航". www.cas-space.com. Retrieved 2022-07-25.

[6] "Guangzhou moves to establish Chinese commercial space cluster". SpaceNews. April 6, 2021.

[kinetica_2-7] "中科宇航提升火箭发射效率——航班化发射卫星渐成现实". www.ce.cn. 2024-03-29. Retrieved 2024-04-04.

[8] "力箭二号液体运载火箭将于2025年首飞，拟执行重要发射任务". Weixin.com. 2024-01-11.

[Kinetica_3-9] "我国商业火箭发展概况". 2024-03-06. Retrieved 2024-04-01.

[10] Andrew Jones published (2021-10-04). "Chinese company aims for suborbital space tourism with familiar rocket design". Space.com. Retrieved 2022-06-07.

[11] "A Chinese New Shepard? CAS Space Eyes Space Tourism - Dongfang Hour". 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2022-06-07.

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v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H 12 LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Deca Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 RS1^† Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)