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

commercialFounded 1883

China

All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.

Zhongke Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd.’s IPO application on the Science and Technology Innovation Board was accepted on March 31, 2026.

Mentioned as: zhongke aerospaceNarrative FinancialApr 3, 2026Landspace's IPO process has been paused CAS Space announces the 1st uncrewed launch of their "New Shepard" Lihong-2 NET Oct. 2026 & solicits experiments Onespace, 1st chinese private LSP (failed OS-M1 in 2019) is back in the launcher business with a design review of "Linglong-1"

CAS Space advanced from a dozen proposals in 2023 to the final four and secured the Qingzhou bid.

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative GeneralMar 30, 2026Official mission review video:

CAS Space says Kinetica-2 will provide global clients with a reliable and affordable option for megaconstellations.

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative GeneralMar 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 cleared Flight 1 successfully.

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative GeneralMar 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 successfully launched the Qingzhou prototype spacecraft.

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative GeneralMar 30, 2026Official mission review video:

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

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

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative GeneralMar 30, 2026Here's the 2nd stage's RCS, needed for missions requiring engine re-start:

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

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative GeneralMar 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:

CAS Space’s Kinetica-2 is in development.

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative PlanMar 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 completed the stage separation test for Kinetica-2.

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative GeneralMar 30, 2026And that's how the stages are separated:

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

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative GeneralMar 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 has completed its second dedicated launch pad at JSLC.

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative GeneralMar 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 is a derivative company of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative GeneralMar 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 planned not to attempt first-stage recovery until at least 2028.

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative GeneralMar 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 Kinetica-2 stage separation test validated the rocket’s design and the individual components developed by CAS Space.

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative GeneralMar 30, 2026And that's how the stages are separated:

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.

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative CapabilityMar 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 is moving Kinecore-2 into the Reliability Identification Phase.

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative CapabilityMar 13, 2026RT by @AJ_FI: The 110 tf Kinecore-2 pintle-injector engine has just completed another long-duration hot-fire test. The 420-second test includes Kinecore-2's longest single hot-fire yet of 200 seconds (that's how long Stage I works🤔). Now moving on to the Reliability Identification Phase. pic.

CAS Space was contracted by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies to use its Kinetica-2 launch vehicle but the vehicle will be occupied with its debut flight for the first half of the year.

Mentioned as: CAS SpaceTechnical ProductMar 7, 2026Jiuquan Set to Host First Qianfan Constellation Launch in Coming Weeks

Orienspace plans an initial public offering on one of China’s stock exchanges following LandSpace and CAS Space while retaining a focus on technology.

Mentioned as: cas spaceNarrative GeneralFeb 19, 2026Third Gravity-1 Rocket Being Prepared for Constellation-Carrying Flight, Reports Say

Other launch vehicles using the YF-102 engine include CAS Space’s Kinetica-1, Space Pioneer’s Tianlong-2, and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Commercial Launch Vehicle Group’s soon-to-debut Long March 12B.

Mentioned as: CAS SpaceTechnical ProductFeb 13, 2026Newcomer Zenk Space Fires Up Zhihang-1 First-Stage in Haiyang

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