Lijian-2

CAS Space plans to fly Kinetica-2 from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site after an integration facility is built there.

Kinetica-2’s second stage is significantly less complex and requires fewer materials than the first stage.

CAS Space plans to produce twelve Kinetica-2 launch vehicles per year at the super factory.

Those ten Kinetica-2 flights are intended to demonstrate reusable rocket technologies, including aerodynamic control during descent, first-stage engine reignition in flight, and landing attempts.

CAS Space expects a Kinetica-2 launch vehicle to be completed every two months through parallel production at the super factory.

A new mega-factory for the Lijian-2 carrier rocket has been completed.

The CAS Space super factory is designed to increase production capacity for the tri-core Kinetica-2 launch vehicle.

The Lijian-2 Y1 mission placed three satellites into orbit.

One of the three Lijian-2 Y1 payloads was a test vehicle for the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft.

China launched the Lijian-2 Y1 rocket successfully on March 30.

Kinetica-2 will integrate Kinecore technologies, including multiple engine firings, thrust control, and cluster recovery, on its fourth through seventh launches.

The suborbital Lihong rocket will assist with characterizing and testing relevant reusable-rocket technologies for Kinetica-2.

CAS Space debuted its tri-core Kinetica-2 launch vehicle on a mission from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center that placed a prototype Qingzhou cargo spacecraft into orbit.

CAS Space expects to produce twenty Kinetica-2 launch vehicles per year after its new super factory opens in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province.

CAS Space says Kinetica-2 missions could cost 252.5 million yuan, or $37 million, once first-stage reuse is understood.

CAS Space aims to obtain reusable first stages for Kinetica-2 by 2028.

CAS Space has compared that projected Kinetica-2 mission cost to about half the cost of SpaceX’s partially reusable Falcon 9.

Kinetica-2 will use a full grid-fin system on its third launch to control aerodynamic reentry.