Kinetica 1 Flight 12 Launches Eight Satellites, Kicking Off Annual Routine Launches
Summary: On April 14, 2026, at 12:03 Beijing time (04:03 UTC), China successfully launched eight satellites aboard a Kinetica 1 (力箭一号) rocket from the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Test Area. The mission, designated Flight 12, deployed the Jixing Gaofen 07A02 satellite along with seven other payloads into their预定 orbits, marking the beginning of annual routine launch operations for the solid-fueled vehicle.
Credit: Xinhua
Mission Details
This was the 12th flight of the Kinetica 1 rocket, developed by CAS Space (中科宇航). The rocket lifted off from the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Test Area near Jiuquan, deploying eight satellites in a rideshare configuration.
The primary payload was the Jixing Gaofen 07A02 satellite (nicknamed "Postal Savings Bank Satellite"), accompanied by seven additional high-resolution Earth observation satellites. All eight spacecraft were successfully inserted into their预定 orbits.
About Kinetica 1
The Kinetica 1 is a four-stage solid-fuel launch vehicle developed by CAS Space. Standing approximately 30 meters tall with a liftoff mass of about 135 metric tons, it can deliver up to 1.5 tons to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. It is one of the representative commercial solid rockets in China's growing private space sector.
The successful eight-satellite deployment demonstrates Kinetica 1's mature multi-payload deployment capability and signals the vehicle's transition to annual routine, high-cadence launch operations.