CAS Space (Guangzhou Zhongke Aerospace Exploration Technology Co., Ltd.)

北京中科宇航探索技术有限公司

CAS Space (Guangzhou Zhongke Aerospace Exploration Technology Co., Ltd.), founded in 2018 and partially owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is a Chinese commercial space launch provider. It focuses on developing and manufacturing launch vehicles, including the Kinetica series of rockets, and aims to provide launch services, suborbital science experiments, and space tourism opportunities. CAS Space operates from its headquarters in Guangzhou, with R&D in Beijing, and has established manufacturing facilities, including a dedicated commercial launch pad, to support mass production and frequent launches.

commercialFounded 2018

China

en.cas-space.com/

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All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.

CAS Space achieved the maiden flight of its Kinetica-2 Y1 carrier rocket on March 30, 2026.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.5Apr 2, 2026CAS Space Successfully Launches Kinetica-2, Aiming for Global Cost Leadership

CAS Space’s liquid upper stage has multi-satellite and multi-orbit deployment capability.

CapabilityValue 3.6Mar 31, 2026According to Cas Space. Their upper stage + satellite combo will fly with CZ-10A in mid of this year. Which means the full CZ-10A maiden flight may be earlier than expected.

CAS Space’s liquid upper stage will fly as a combined payload with a satellite on CZ-10A in the middle of 2026.

PlanValue 4.0Mar 31, 2026According to Cas Space. Their upper stage + satellite combo will fly with CZ-10A in mid of this year. Which means the full CZ-10A maiden flight may be earlier than expected.

CAS Space is concentrating on developing a workable launcher first.

PlanCapabilityValue 2.0Mar 30, 2026At this point you might ask: where are the landing legs on the tri-core booster? Well @cas_space has decided to concentrate on getting a workable launcher 1st, and as of 2 years ago they already planned not to attempt 1st stage recovery till at least 2028.

The AALPT-sourced YF-102(V) engines are interim solutions for CAS Space.

CapabilityRelationshipsValue 3.0Mar 30, 2026...and the AALPT-sourced YF-102(V) engines are going to be "interim" solutions - @cas_space is in fact building their own more powerful gas generator kerosene/LOX engine, the Kinecore-2 (a.k.a. Liqing-2), for the upgraded version that should be reusable:

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))

The CAS Space Kinecore-2 engine completed a 420-second long-duration hot-fire test.

CapabilityValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026...and the AALPT-sourced YF-102(V) engines are going to be "interim" solutions - @cas_space is in fact building their own more powerful gas generator kerosene/LOX engine, the Kinecore-2 (a.k.a. Liqing-2), for the upgraded version that should be reusable:

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:

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:

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:

The CAS Space Kinecore-2 engine’s longest single hot-fire test lasted 200 seconds.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026...and the AALPT-sourced YF-102(V) engines are going to be "interim" solutions - @cas_space is in fact building their own more powerful gas generator kerosene/LOX engine, the Kinecore-2 (a.k.a. Liqing-2), for the upgraded version that should be reusable:

CAS Space successfully launched the Qingzhou prototype spacecraft.

GeneralValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026Official mission review video:

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 staff were involved in the Flight 1 launch.

GeneralCapabilityValue 1.8Mar 30, 2026It was certainly a nervy launch for all the @cas_space staff involved, but even they also cleared the haunt of Flight 1 with ease in the end:

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:

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:

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