China launches newest solid-fuel carrier rocket Kuaizhou-11 Y-2

BEIJING: China on Wednesday launched its newest solid-fuel carrier rocket Kuaizhou-11 Y-2 at 9:15 a.m. (BJT) from northwest China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, sending a communication technology experimental satellite into targeted orbit.

Kuaizhou-11 solid-fuelled carrier rocket was successfully launched on Wed sending a test satellite into orbit. The vehicle, a new member in its family, has a payload capacity 5 times that of Kuaizhou-1A to meet demand of large-scale, high-density and rapid satellite launches. pic.twitter.com/Bn2fa5sWG4

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) December 7, 2022

According to official Chinese media, this is the 23rd flight of the Kuaizhou series of launch vehicles developed by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) for commercial use.

It is pertinent to mention here that CASIC began to develop Kuaizhou, which means speedy boat in English, series solid-fuel rockets in 2009 as a low cost, quick-response rocket family for the commercial launch market. It has launched three of the rockets-two Kuaizhou 1s and one Kuaizhou 1A.

The Kuaizhou 16, a small model, has a diameter of 3.5 meters and can place large satellites-those weighing up to 5 tons-into a low-Earth orbit. Rockets in this category are the most used on the launch market so the Kuaizhou 16 should have bright prospects.