New satellite lifted into orbit by Kuaizhou-1A

An experimental satellite was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's northwestern desert on Thursday morning, according to the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp.

The State-owned company said in a statement that a Kuaizhou 1A solid-propellant carrier rocket blasted off at 7:41 am and later placed the Shiyan 11, or Experiment 11, satellite into a preset orbit. The mission marked the 13th flight of the Kuaizhou 1A.

The company did not elaborate on the satellite or its mission.

The Kuaizhou is the largest solid-propellant rocket family in China, as opposed to the Long March series that mainly relies on liquid fuel.

The 20-meter Kuaizhou 1A has a liftoff weight of about 30 metric tons. It is capable of sending a 200-kilogram payload into a sun-synchronous orbit, or a 300-kg payload into a low-Earth orbit.

Since its maiden flight in January 2017, the rocket has lifted 22 satellites into space.

CASIC began to develop the Kuaizhou series in 2009 as a low-cost, quick-response product aimed at the commercial space market. The company has built a manufacturing complex for the carrier rockets at the 68.8-square-kilometer Wuhan National Space Industry Base in Hubei province. The factory began first-phase operations with an initial production capacity of 20 Kuaizhou-series rockets a year.