Kuaizhou, family of orbital launch vehicles, China

A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched two satellites for technological experiments from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, northwest China, on 30 August 2019, at 23:41 UTC (31 August, 07:41 local time). KZ-1A is a type of low-cost solid-fuelled carrier rocket with high reliability, short preparation period and designed to launch low-orbit satellites weighing under 300 kg each. Kuaizhou-1A is developed by ExPace Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched the Jilin-1 Gaofen 02A satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, northwest China, on 13 November 2019, at 03:40 UTC (11:40 local time). The Jilin-1 Gaofen 02A satellite (吉林一号高分02A) is a new optical remote sensing satellite independently developed by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd., featuring high resolution, wide width and high-speed data transmission. KZ-1A (快舟一号) is a type of low-cost solid-fuelled carrier rocket with high reliability, short preparation period and designed to launch low-orbit satellites weighing under 300 kg each. Kuaizhou-1A is developed by ExPace Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched two satellites, KL-α-A and KL-α-B, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, northwest China, on 17 November 2019, at 10:00 UTC (18:00 local time). KL-a-A and KL-a-B were developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and will be mainly used for Ka-band communication technology tests. KZ-1A (快舟一号) is a type of low-cost solid-fuelled carrier rocket with high reliability, short preparation period and designed to launch low-orbit satellites weighing under 300 kg each. Kuaizhou-1A is developed by ExPace Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).

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Two Kuaizhou-1A rockets were launched within hours of each other:
- a Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched the Jilin-1 Gaofen 02B satellite from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, Shanxi Province, northern China, on 7 December 2019, at 02:55 UTC (10:55 local time);
- a Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched the HEAD-2A, HEAD-2B, Spacety-16, Spacety-17, Tianqi-4A and Tianqi-4B satellites from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, Shanxi Province, northern China, on 7 December 2019, at 08:52 UTC (16:52 local time)
The Jilin-1 Gaofen 02B satellite (吉林一号高分02B) is a new optical remote sensing satellite, developed by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd., that will form a network with the 14 previously launched Jilin-1 satellites, providing remote sensing data and services for agriculture, forestry, resources and environment.
HEAD-2A and HEAD-2B are the first batch of satellites for the Skywalker Constellation for environmental monitoring and information collection on global ships and aircraft.
The Spacety-16 and Spacety-17 satellites are medium-resolution micro-nano remote sensing satellites that are mainly used for disaster prevention, maritime applications, agricultural remote sensing and polar environment monitoring.
Tianqi-4A and Tianqi-4B satellites will provide services such as global Internet of Things data transmission, emergency communications and material tracking.
KZ-1A (快舟一号) is a low-cost solid-fuelled launch vehicle designed to launch low-orbit satellites weighing under 300 kg each. Kuaizhou-1A is developed by ExPace Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched the Galaxy-1 communications satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, northwest China, on 16 January 2020, at 03:02 UTC (11:02 local time). Galaxy-1, also known as Yinhe-1, is the fist satellite of the low Earth orbit (LEO) communications constellation developed by Galaxy Space (银河航天), a private Chinese company. KZ-1A (快舟一号) is a type of low-cost solid-fuelled carrier rocket with high reliability, short preparation period and designed to launch low-orbit satellites weighing under 300 kg each. Kuaizhou-1A is developed by ExPace Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched the Xingyun-2 01 and 02 communications satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, northwest China, on 12 May 2020, at 01:16 UTC (09:16 local time). Developed by the Xingyun Satellite Co.(航天行云科技有限公司), a subsidiary of Sanjiang Group, the Xingyun-2 (行云二号) satellites will conduct tests on technologies including space-based IoT communications and inter-satellite laser communications, part of a planned network with 80 low-orbit communications satellites. KZ-1A (快舟一号) is developed by ExPace Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).

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A Kuaizhou-11 (KZ-11) launch vehicle launched two satellites, Jilin-1 Gaofen-02E (Bilibili Video Satellite) and CentiSpace-1 S2 (Weili-1-02), from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, northwest China, on 10 July 2020, at 04:17 UTC (12:17 local time). The rocket failed to reach its intended orbit, the causes are under investigation. KZ-11 (快舟十一) is developed by ExPace Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)/China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC)

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched the Jilin-1 Gaofen 02D satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, northwest China, on 27 September 2021, at 06:19 UTC (14:19 local time). Jilin-1 Gaofen 02D (吉林一号高分02D) is a new optical remote sensing satellite, developed by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd., part of a network that provides remote sensing data and services for agriculture, forestry, resources and environment. KZ-1A (快舟一号) is developed by ExPace Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched the Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, northwest China, on 27 October 2021, at 06:19 UTC (14:19 local time). Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F (吉林一号高分02F) is an optical remote sensing satellite, developed by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd., part of a network that provides remote sensing data and services for agriculture, forestry, resources and environment. KZ-1A (快舟一号甲) is developed by ExPace Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched the Shiyan-11 satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, northwest China, on 24 November 2021, at 23:41 UTC (25 November, at 07:41 local time). According to official sources, Shiyan-11 (试验十一) successfully entered the predetermined orbit and will be “mainly used in the fields of land survey, urban planning, crop yield estimation, disaster prevention and reduction”.

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched the Tianxing-1 test satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, northwest China, on 22 June 2022, at 02:08 UTC (10:08 local time). According to official sources, the Tianxing-1 experimental satellite (天行一号试验卫星) has successfully entered the predetermined orbit and will be “mainly used for experiments such as space environment detection”.

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched the Chuangxin-16 satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, China, on 23 August 2022, at 02:36 UTC (10:36 local time). According to official sources, the Chuangxin-16 (创新十六, Innovation-16 ) satellite has successfully entered the desired orbit and will be “mainly used in scientific experiments, new technology verification and other fields”.

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched the CentiSpace-1 S3/S4 satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, China, on 6 September 2022, at 02:24 UTC (10:24 local time). According to official sources, the CentiSpace-1 S3/S4 test satellites (微厘空间 S3/S4, Weili-1 03/04, Kongjian Shiyan) have successfully entered the desired orbits and “will carry out technical verification tests, such as navigation enhancement in orbit.”

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched the Shiyan-14 and Shiyan-15 (试验十四, 试验十五) satellites from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, Shanxi Province, China, on 24 September 2022, at 22:55 UTC (25 September, at 06:55 local time). According to official sources, the satellites have successfully entered the desired orbits. “Shiyan-14 will be mainly be used to conduct scientific experiments and verify new technologies, while the Shiyan-15 will provide data in the fields of land survey, urban planning, and disaster prevention and mitigation.”

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The second Kuaizhou-11 (KZ-11) launch vehicle (Kuaizhou-11 Y2) launched the VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) test satellite (行云交通VDES试验卫星) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, northwest China, on 7 December 2022, at 01:15 UTC (09:15 local time). According to official sources, the satellite entered the planned orbit and “will be mainly used for communications test and key technologies verification of the VDES and the automatic identification system (AIS)”. This is the first successful launch of KZ-11 (快舟十一), developed by ExPace Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched four Tianmu-1 meteorological satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, China, on 22 March 2023, at 09:09 UTC (17:09 local time). According to official sources, the Tianmu-1 03, 04, 05 and 06 satellites (天目一号气象星座03星、04星、05星、06) have entered the planned orbits and “will be mainly used to provide commercial meteorological data services”

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched the Longjiang-3 satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, China, on 9 June 2023, at 02:35 UTC (10:35 local time). According to official sources, Longjiang-3 (龙江三号) is “China’s first flat-panel new system communication test satellite” and will be “mainly used to verify key technologies such as high-speed communication and flat-panel satellite platforms.”

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched four Tianmu-1 meteorological satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu Province, China, on 20 July 2023, at 03:20 UTC (11:20 local time). According to official sources, the Tianmu-1 07, 08, 09 and 10 satellites (天目一号气象星座07星、08星、09星、10) have entered the planned orbits and “will be mainly used to provide commercial meteorological data services”.

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A Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) launch vehicle launched five HeDe-3 satellites (和德三号A-E星, HeDe-3 A-E / 交通六号-十号卫星, Jiaotong 6-10) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, southwest China, on 14 August 2023, at 05:32 UTC (13:32 local time). According to official sources, the satellites were sent into the predetermined orbits and will be used as part of a new VDES maritime communication system.

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