The Kinetica 2 rocket<\/a> is essentially ready, with all major tests completed and just a few final reviews pending, Liu Weipeng, CAS Space international marketing manager, told Space.com<\/a> at the 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), which was held from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3 in Sydney, Australia.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n \n The CAS Space booth at IAC 2025 in Sydney, showing (left to right) the Lihong 2 suborbital launcher, the Kinetica 2 rocket, and Kinetica 1 solid rocket. (Image credit: Andrew Jones\/Space.com)<\/p>\n The kerosene and liquid oxygen-propellant Kinetica 2 rocket has three core first stages and will be capable of carrying 17,200 pounds (7,800 kilograms) of payload into a sun-synchronous orbit, or 26,450 pounds (12,000 kg) into low Earth orbit<\/a>. It will eventually also feature first-stage reusability.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Aboard will be a prototype cargo spacecraft, a first move for a low-cost cargo transportation system to serve Tiangong, called for by China’s human spaceflight agency. The Qingzhou cargo spacecraft is from the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAMCAS). CAS Space itself is a commercial spinoff from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n With Kinetica 2, CAS Space intends to compete for contracts to launch satellites for China’s planned megaconstellations<\/a> and send cargo to Tiangong. It will come up against strong competition from other Chinese commercial actors, including Landspace<\/a>, iSpace<\/a>, Space Pioneer<\/a>, Galactic Energy<\/a> and more, all of which are aiming to launch their own new rockets before the end of the year.<\/p>\n The prototype Qingzhou Cargo Spacecraft (1:1 model shown) will be the primary payload for Kinetica-2’s inaugural flight this year. The mission marks another step forward in the commercial space industry’s role in the Chinese space program. (photo cr: Xinhua) pic.twitter.com\/dW9qDAISvEApril 25, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Sea launches and suborbital tourism<\/p>\n CAS Space, meanwhile, has further ambitions and wants to increase its launch rate. “We’ll have six Kinetica 1 missions launching from the East China Sea,” Liu said. Those would mark the company’s first sea launches, supported by China’s Eastern Maritime Spaceport on the coast of Shandong province, in eastern China.<\/p>\n According to Liu, a number of the Kinetica 1 team members previously worked on the Long March<\/a> 11 solid rocket, which was developed by the state-owned space contractor CASC. The Long March 11 was the first Chinese rocket to launch from the sea<\/a> back in 2019.<\/p>\n Beyond this, the company’s plans to provide space tourism<\/a> services are advancing. “We’ll have more news by the end of the year,” said Liu. There will soon be a first test flight of the crew capsule, launched via a solid booster. The test will include microgravity experiments.<\/p>\n “We have a detailed plan. So the vehicle will initially be ready by 2027,” with commercial services to start in 2028, Liu said. The company tested<\/a> its Kinecore engine for the Lihong 2 suborbital rocket in June.<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/upE7cwMjQLgtVnoMT7Bq5.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n