#centispace

Expace Kuaizhou-1A (Y8) Rocket Launches CentiSpace-1-S1 Satellite

Commercial space company Expace sent a small, experimental satellite into orbit with a Kuaizhou-1A launch vehicle on Saturday, marking China's 26th orbital launch of 2018.

The Kuaizhou-1A solid-fuelled rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert at 04:13 universal time (12:13 local), with authorities declaring success within the hour.

The 20-metre-tall, 1.4-meter-diameter Kuaizhou-1A solid-fuelled rocket has a liftoff mass of around 30 metric tonnes and is capable of lifting 200 kg of payload to a 700 km Sun-synchronous orbit.

Aboard was the Centispace-1-S1 small, experimental satellite which, according to a press release, is a pilot satellite for a low Earth orbit navigation and positioning enhancement system being developed by Beijing Future Navigation Technology Co., Ltd., with satellite having been developed by the Institute of Micro-satellite Innovation under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The mission was the second launch for the missile-derived launch vehicle, which had its maiden flight in January 2017.

Saturday's launch was the 26th of the year for China, and the first not performed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the main contractor for the Chinese space programme.

Commercial liftoff

Expace was jointly established in February 2016 by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), a state-owned defence contractor and major missile maker, and the China Sanjiang Space Group, making the company only nominally private.

The Kuaizhou-1A was originally developed under CASIC and derived from missile technology.

A second Kuaizhou-1A launch is expected by the end of the year from Jiuquan, with six further launches scheduled - including one for a foreign client - for 2019.

Chinese commercial space companies have emerged following a 2014 Chinese government decision to open the space sector to private capital, especially in the arenas of launch and small satellites.

Beijing-based startup Landspace on Thursday sent its first rocket, the Zhuque-1 (vermillion bird-1) three-stage solid rocket, on its way from a facility in Xi'an, north China, to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre.