Launches / Kuaizhou 1A

Past launch Launched successfully

Traffic VDES A & B

Kuaizhou 1A, flown by ExPace

Kuaizhou 1A lifting off with the Traffic VDES A & B mission
Image via The Space Devs.

This was ExPace's 3rd launch of 2025, and its 31st in all.

Counting every operator, it was the 291st orbital launch attempt anywhere in 2025, and the eighth from Launch Area 95A.

Launched
Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, 9:00 a.m. UTC
Window
Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, 8:54 to 9:54 a.m. UTC
Launch site
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China
Rocket
Kuaizhou 1A
Operator
ExPace

The mission

Two technology demonstration satellites for satellite transmissions of signals for the VHF Data Exchange System (VDES), a successor to the current Automatic Identification System (AIS) on ships and maritime vessels for traffic management at sea with higher bandwidth on new frequencies for secure communications and e-navigation. This project is a joint effort by the China Ministry of Transport's China Transport Telecommunications Information Center and SpaceSail, operator of the Qianfan/G60 constellation.

Type
Technology
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 Launch Area 95A at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China.

See the pad on a map →

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