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/

Admin Edit

All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.

The CAS Space Kinecore-2 engine has entered the Reliability Identification Phase.

PlanCapabilityValue 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 PR-2H heavy launch vehicle has a 3.35-meter core diameter and a 4.2-meter or 5.2-meter fairing diameter.

CapabilityValue 4.5Mar 30, 2026While the first Kinetica-2 has just flown, CAS Space is already planning a lot of upgrades to it. Not the least of which a quint-core Kinetica-2 Heavy...

CAS Space’s engine testing center in Conghua, Guangzhou is the sole engine and propulsion system test center in southern China.

CapabilityValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026And here's when they performed the full 1st stage single core test fire, only 9 months ago:

CAS Space used an experimental 1:2 fuel tank built with PMMA and designed using the Froude similarity criterion to verify anti-vortex and anti-collapse performance.

CapabilityGeneralValue 4.0Mar 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).

CAS Space’s Conghua testing center is capable of 200t-grade liquid engine testing and 400t-grade comprehensive propulsion system testing.

CapabilityValue 4.2Mar 30, 2026And here's when they performed the full 1st stage single core test fire, only 9 months ago:

CAS Space's Qingzhou spacecraft is part of the company's path toward commercial cargo resupply.

CapabilityPlanValue 3.0Mar 30, 2026So about the launch happening right now. A launcher debuting that very much cross into Rocket Lab's Neutron territory and represents part of the semi-private company's path to commercial cargo resupply dreams. Meet @cas_space's Kinetica-2 & Qingzhou spacecraft.

CAS Space has completed work on Kinetica-2's second-stage fuel tanks.

CapabilityRelationshipsValue 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 new launch pad and facilities will be dedicated to Kinetica-2 launches.

PlanGrowthValue 3.5Mar 30, 2026While not among the most notable of the new storm of Chinese launchers (and is quite a bit smaller than many, including one I will talk about later), there's a lot of hope put on Kinetica-2 for CSS cargo runs and (of course) LEO constellation deployments.

CAS Space said a super factory that can produce 12 launch vehicles per year is near operation.

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

CAS Space cleared Flight 1 successfully.

CapabilityValue 3.5Mar 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 is a derivative company of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

RelationshipsValue 2.2Mar 30, 2026A derivative company from the Chinese Academy Of Sciences, @cas_space is quite a weird bird in the huge fight of semi-private to private Chinese LSPs (but see the most famous CAS derivative company by far that you should know of, a certain Lenovo). While they started out with...

CAS Space has completed its second dedicated launch pad at JSLC.

CapabilityPlanValue 3.5Mar 30, 2026While not among the most notable of the new storm of Chinese launchers (and is quite a bit smaller than many, including one I will talk about later), there's a lot of hope put on Kinetica-2 for CSS cargo runs and (of course) LEO constellation deployments.

CAS Space launched its prototype Qingzhou Cargo Spacecraft on a test flight today.

CapabilityPlanValue 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 is preparing Kinetica-2 for future flights to geostationary space with its optional third stage called Kinastra.

PlanCapabilityValue 3.6Mar 30, 2026Tri-Core Kinetica-2 Soars Into Orbit Carrying Cargo Spacecraft on First Mission! [Kinetica-2 Y1]

CAS Space updated Kinetica-2’s optional third stage on March 18 after firings of the Kinecore-4 engine and small attitude control thrusters.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.0Mar 20, 2026CAS Space Tests New Engines to Upgrade Kinetica-2 Rocket

CAS Space plans to introduce Kinecore-2 several missions into Kinetica-2 operations to enable reuse of the vehicle’s three-core first stage.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Mar 20, 2026CAS Space Tests New Engines to Upgrade Kinetica-2 Rocket

CAS Space has verified Kinecore-2’s injector and pump systems for multiple startups.

RelationshipsCapabilityValue 3.6Mar 20, 2026CAS Space Tests New Engines to Upgrade Kinetica-2 Rocket

CAS Space is developing its own engines to improve Kinetica-2’s capabilities.

CapabilityGeneralValue 3.0Mar 20, 2026CAS Space Tests New Engines to Upgrade Kinetica-2 Rocket

CAS Space’s tri-core Kinetica-2 launch vehicle will perform its first mission in the coming weeks.

PlanValue 3.0Mar 20, 2026CAS Space Tests New Engines to Upgrade Kinetica-2 Rocket

CAS Space tested the rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen Kinecore-2 engine at its firing center in Conghua, Guangzhou, Guangdong.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.0Mar 20, 2026CAS Space Tests New Engines to Upgrade Kinetica-2 Rocket

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