Chinese rocket carries innovative Mexican satellites into orbit

CAS Space, a Beijing-based commercial rocket maker, launched the eighth rocket in its Kinetica 1 series on Tuesday afternoon, transporting seven satellites, including a pair built in Mexico, into space.

The rocket lifted off at 3:33 pm from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert and then placed the payloads — a synthetic aperture radar satellite, an Earth-observation satellite and five experimental satellites — into their preset orbit, the company said in a statement.

Among the hardware launched are the mini ThumbSat-1 and ThumbSat-2 satellites. Weighing about 100 grams each, they were designed and built by private Mexican company ThumbSat and have very simple tasks, the company said.

"ThumbSat-1 carries a selfie payload, aiming to capture its own mirror-selfie in orbit. ThumbSat-2 carries an artistic payload, merging science and creativity, reminding us that exploration is not only about data but also about expression," it said on its website.

It added that the mission was made possible through close collaboration between CAS Space and ThumbSat, as their engineers together designed a specialized satellite deployer.

In addition, ThumbSat stated that it will set up ground-receiving stations across Mexico to enable students and space fans to use antennas and software for free to "track signals from orbit and take part in a mission that crosses borders and disciplines".

In its statement, CAS Space said that, "As a groundbreaking cooperation between China and Mexico in the field of satellite development and service, this project marks a milestone breakthrough for China's space industry in the North American commercial space market."

The Chinese company said the project's success will strengthen the bond of Sino-Mexican scientific and technological cooperation and will make important contributions to "building a fair, open and inclusive system for international space cooperation".

Hu Xiaowei, project manager of the Kinetica 1 model, said that Tuesday's launch has once again highlighted the rocket's reliability.

"By now, CAS Space has used our Kinetica 1 rockets to help clients deploy 70 satellites with a combined weight of more than 7 (metric) tons. We are No 1 in terms of business share in China's commercial launch market, and the Kinetica 1 still holds the domestic record of most satellites launched by a commercial rocket," he said, stating that Kinetica 1 is the "most suitable choice" for launching small and mid-size satellites.

Tuesday's launch was not the first time Kinetica 1 carried satellites for foreign clients.

In its fifth flight in November last year, the rocket placed 15 satellites into their preset orbit, including the IRSS-1 that was designed and built by the China Academy of Space Technology for the Omani space industry startup Oman Lens.

It marked the first time that a Chinese commercial space company had launched any satellite for a foreign client, and also the first time that an Omani satellite had been successfully put into orbit.

"We can arrange a launch mission in a flexible and rapid manner, and that means we are able to efficiently respond to clients' urgent orders. Besides, compared with similar rocket models on the international market, ours features an attractive price and a very high accuracy of orbital deployment," said Meng Xiangfu, deputy manager of the Kinetica 1 project.

Formerly known as ZK 1A, the Kinetica 1 model has a length of 30 meters, a diameter of 2.65 meters, and a liftoff weight of 135 tons. It is capable of deploying satellites with a combined weight of 1.5 tons to a typical sun-synchronous orbit about 500 kilometers above Earth.