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Launch Vehicles
Vehicle family profile

Lijian-2

力箭二号

Family-level launch record combining canonical variants, historical missions, public cadence forecasts, and available payload performance specs.

CAS Space (Guangzhou Zhongke Aerospace Exploration Technology Co., Ltd.)Active
Admin
Variants
1
Canonical variants linked to this family.
Historical missions
1
Missions in the public mission table with actual launch dates.
Peak listed capacity
12,000 kg
Maximum payload capacity across listed variants and orbits.

Launch Cadence

Historical missions are grouped by actual launch year. Forecast cadence uses family-level launch-rate rows.

YearHistorical missionsForecast launches
202610
202700
202800
202901
203002
203103
203204
203305
203406
203508
203608
203708
203808
203908
204008
204101

Forecast Location Split

1 launch location represented.

Performance Specs

Payload capacity by variant and target orbit when structured capacity rows are available.

VariantOrbitCapacityAltitudeInclinationSource
Lijian-2
LEO12,000 kgUnknownUnknownchinese_launch_vehicle_chart_normalized.xlsx (manual screenshot transcription; extraction date 2026-06-02 UTC)
Lijian-2
SSO8,000 kg500 kmUnknownCAS Space Lijian-2 official launch report
Lijian-2
SSO8,000 kg700 kmUnknown

Recent Missions

Latest launched missions using variants in this family.

MissionVariantLaunch
XZC01/02
Lijian-2
Mar 30, 2026

Forecasted Missions

Upcoming mission rows with announced launch timing.

MissionVariantAnnounced

No forecasted missions

No upcoming announced mission rows are linked to this vehicle family.

Variants

Canonical variants rolled up into this launch vehicle family.

VariantStagesMissionsStatus
Lijian-2
Not stated1Active
YearLocationLaunchesConfidenceBasis
2026Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site020%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2027Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site020%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2028Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site020%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2029Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site120%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2030Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site220%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2031Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site325%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2032Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site425%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2033Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site525%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2034Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site625%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2035Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site830%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2036Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site830%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2037Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site830%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2038Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site830%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2039Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site830%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2040Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site830%Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.
2041Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site125%Catalog-completeness placeholder for active Lijian-2/Kinetica-2 family; not used by latest forecast capacity snapshot.
Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site
2026 · 20% confidence
0

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.

Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site
2027 · 20% confidence
0

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.

Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site
2028 · 20% confidence
0

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.

Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site
2029 · 20% confidence
1

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.

Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site
2030 · 20% confidence
2

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.

Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site
2031 · 25% confidence
3

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.

Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site
2032 · 25% confidence
4

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.

Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site
2033 · 25% confidence
5

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.

Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site
2034 · 25% confidence
6

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.

Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site
2035 · 30% confidence
8

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.

Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site
2036 · 30% confidence
8

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.

Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site
2037 · 30% confidence
8

Manual 2026-06-06 review: Lijian-2 treated as future CAS Space/Kinetica family ramp, not a one-launch static placeholder.

chinese_launch_vehicle_chart_normalized.xlsx (manual screenshot transcription; extraction date 2026-06-02 UTC)
Track
Mentions
209
All verified mentions of this launch vehicle family in source documents.
0.0-5.0
Actions

CAS Space is associated with the Lijian-2 Yao-1 launch vehicle.

GeneralValue 2.0Mar 30, 2026Obligatory mission logo (in the form of patches and launch day covers that you can buy) and Big Red Success Screen (TM): (BTW New March 02 is even lighter than operational Qingzhou spacecrafts will be, at just 4.2 tonnes (with 1.02 tonnes of payload))

Kinetica-2 is planned to be reusable, but it will fly in an expendable configuration for the first few years of operational missions.

Plan
Page4of11
Capability
Value 4.0
Mar 30, 2026
Tri-Core Kinetica-2 Soars Into Orbit Carrying Cargo Spacecraft on First Mission! [Kinetica-2 Y1]

CAS Space’s Kinetica-2 stage-2 reaction control system is needed for missions requiring engine restart.

CapabilityGeneralValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026Here's the 2nd stage's RCS, needed for missions requiring engine re-start:

Kinetica-2’s debut flight used the Academy of Aerospace Liquid Propulsion Technology’s YF-102 engine.

CapabilityValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026Tri-Core Kinetica-2 Soars Into Orbit Carrying Cargo Spacecraft on First Mission! [Kinetica-2 Y1]

The Kinetica-2 stage separation test validated the rocket’s design and the individual components developed by CAS Space.

CapabilityGeneralValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026And that's how the stages are separated:

Kinetica-2 can carry between 2,000 and 22,000 kilograms into orbit depending on configuration.

CapabilityValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026Tri-Core Kinetica-2 Soars Into Orbit Carrying Cargo Spacecraft on First Mission! [Kinetica-2 Y1]

CAS Space completed a horizontal fairing jettison test for Kinetica-2.

CapabilityValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026While their own bid for what became the "Chinese COTS Program" set up by the CMSEO wasn't announced as a winner yet when this video was posted, you can see that CAS Space certainly sized the fairing for a cargo spacecraft:

Kinetica-2 is being taken toward the late afternoon skies at JSLC.

PlanValue 3.6Mar 30, 20263 x 3 YF-102 engines - each installed in a triangular configuration in each core - takes the almost-mini-Falcon-Heavy look-like Kinetica-2 towards the late afternoon skies at JSLC:

Kinetica-2’s first stage uses nine 85-ton-thrust YF-102 engines for a total of 766 tons of thrust.

CapabilityValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026Tri-Core Kinetica-2 Soars Into Orbit Carrying Cargo Spacecraft on First Mission! [Kinetica-2 Y1]

Kinetica-2 has three YF-102 engines per core in its earlier tri-core configuration.

CapabilityGeneralValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026The initial version (yes, there's a later version with new engines) of Kinetica-2 can be loosely viewed as a "tri-core" version of the flown-3-years-ago competitor's Tianlong-2, each core w/ 3 YF-102 engines. This is an engine sold by a state enterprise...

Kinetica-2's second-stage fuel tanks are 3.35-meter aluminium tanks.

CapabilityGeneralValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026The initial version (yes, there's a later version with new engines) of Kinetica-2 can be loosely viewed as a "tri-core" version of the flown-3-years-ago competitor's Tianlong-2, each core w/ 3 YF-102 engines. This is an engine sold by a state enterprise...

CAS Space’s Kinetica-2 is in development.

PlanGeneralValue 2.5Mar 30, 2026Anyway back to Kinetica-2 - unlike Tianlong-2 mentioned above, this one's 2nd stage also uses a variant of YF-102 (which you can say is "Chinese state institute-built Merlin-1" of sorts), the YF-102V (which would be one of the "Chinese Merlin-Vacuum"s).

Kinecore-4 is CAS Space's 20 kN engine designed for the optional Kinetica-2 upper stage.

CapabilityValue 4.2Mar 30, 2026That engine features the first pintle injector in a Chinese rocket engine according to the company (Sounds familiar? It was used on the other launch of today just 2 minutes after this). There's also an upper stage being designed for BLEO missions:

CAS Space’s Kinetica-2 stage-2 auxiliary engine system successfully completed a system-level coordination fire test.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026Here's the 2nd stage's RCS, needed for missions requiring engine re-start:

The three satellites delivered by CAS Space’s Kinetica-2 Y1 were the New March 01 Technology Demonstration Satellite, the New March 02 Satellite, and the TS 01 Educational Satellite.

RelationshipsGeneralValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Official announcement is here - what they didn't told you is that the "New March 02 Satellite" mentioned here IS the prototype Qingzhou spacecraft. Yes, it flew under another name! 😒

CAS Space’s Kinetica-2 Y1 completed its inaugural flight and delivered three satellites into space on its first mission.

GeneralCapabilityValue 4.2Mar 30, 2026LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Official announcement is here - what they didn't told you is that the "New March 02 Satellite" mentioned here IS the prototype Qingzhou spacecraft. Yes, it flew under another name! 😒

CAS Space’s Kinetica-2 stage-2 auxiliary engine system includes eight 300N thrusters and four 100N thrusters.

CapabilityValue 5.0Mar 30, 2026Here's the 2nd stage's RCS, needed for missions requiring engine re-start:

The maximum shock in the Kinetica-2 stage separation test was less than 2500g.

CapabilityGeneralValue 3.5Mar 30, 2026And that's how the stages are separated:

The prototype Qingzhou Cargo Spacecraft will be the primary payload for Kinetica-2's inaugural flight this year.

PlanGeneralValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026While all eyes were on the rocket, (after getting all the confusions settled) it's also worth noting @CAS_Space has launched their prototype "Chinese Cygnus" spacecraft on a test flight today (In a way not quite what I was thinking though! See below):

CAS Space conducted a hot firing and thermal protection test for the auxiliary engine system on Kinetica-2.

CapabilityValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026(there's actually quite a bit of Kinetica-2 testing videos tweeted out here BTW, here's one of 2nd stage RCS thrusters thermal shielding testing: