Spaceflight

CAS Space conducted the Kinetica-2 (Lijian-2) first stage hot fire test June 11, marking a big step towards the launch of the Qingzhou-1 prototype cargo spacecraft later in the year, the company said in a June 12 statement.

“The test duration covered the flight mission profile. It fully verified the coordination and compatibility of the booster’s pressurization and feed systems with the engine system, as well as the correctness of interfaces among propulsion, structure, avionics, and launch support systems,” the statement read.

Kinetica-2 follows on from the company’s established Kinetica-1 solid rocket. It is a 55-meter-long, 3.35m-diameter launcher using a kerosene-liquid oxygen propellant mix. Its core stage uses three YF‑102 engines developed by state-owned space giant CASC. It is designed to carry up to 12,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit or around 7,800 kg to a 500-kilometer-altitude sun-synchronous orbit.