Launches / Kuaizhou 1A

Past launch Launched successfully

Haishao-1

Kuaizhou 1A, flown by ExPace

Kuaizhou 1A lifting off with the Haishao-1 mission
Image via The Space Devs.

This was ExPace's 5th launch of 2024, and its 28th in all.

Counting every operator, it was the 232nd orbital launch attempt anywhere in 2024, and the second from Mobile Launcher Pad.

Launched
Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, 4:46 a.m. UTC
Window
Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, 4:36 to 5:21 a.m. UTC
Launch site
Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China
Rocket
Kuaizhou 1A
Operator
ExPace

The mission

Synthetic-aperture radar Earth observation satellite from the Chinese Academy of Sciences to observe dynamics properties of oceans.

Type
Earth science
Destination
Low Earth orbit

The rocket

Kuaizhou is a family of Chinese "quick-reaction" orbital launch vehicles. Flying since 2013, Kuaizhou 1 and 1A consist of three solid-fueled rocket stages, with a liquid-fueled fourth stage as part of the satellite system.

Height
19.4 m
Built by
ExPace
First flew
January 9, 2017
Lifts to low Earth orbit
300 kg
View 3 specifications Show less
Diameter
1.4 m
Mass at liftoff
30 t
Stages
4

31 flights, 28 of them successful.

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The operator

ExPace

ExPace is a Chinese space rocket company based in Wuhan, Hubei, China. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of missileer China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), a Chinese state-owned company, and serves as its commercial rocket division. ExPace is focused on small satellite launchers to low Earth orbit.

Sector
Commercial
Based in
China
Founded
2016
Run by
Zhang Di, CEO

34 launches so far, 30 of them successful. The last 5 in a row went to plan.

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The launch site

It went up from Mobile Launcher Pad at Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China.

See the pad on a map →

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