CAS Space, a leading commercial rocket maker in China, launches the 11th Kinetica 1 carrier rocket, deploying nine satellites, Dec 10, 2025. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The 11th Kinetica 1 carrier rocket lifted off early on Wednesday afternoon, deploying nine satellites, including three for the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Nepal. The launch, operated by CAS Space, a leading commercial rocket maker, took place at 12:03 pm from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert.
The payloads — six Chinese multifunctional satellites, an Earth-observation satellite to be operated by the UAE, an Egyptian scientific satellite and a Nepalese educational satellite — subsequently entered their preset orbit, the company said in a statement.
The UAE's satellite, named 813, was developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, a Shanghai-based subsidiary of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, for the National Space Science and Technology Center at the United Arab Emirates University.
CAS Space, a leading commercial rocket maker in China, launches the 11th Kinetica 1 carrier rocket, deploying nine satellites, Dec 10, 2025. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
It carries a hyperspectral imager, a panchromatic imager and an atmospheric polarimeter to obtain data for precise monitoring of vegetation, water bodies and land use, detailed mapping and surface feature detection, as well as environmental survey and climate change research.
According to media in the UAE, engineers from 12 Arab countries, including Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, took part in the research and development effort, which has been called the Arab world's first joint satellite project.
The Egyptian SPNEX (Space Plasma Nano-satellite Experiment) is a mini-satellite jointly developed by the Egyptian Space Agency and Egypt's Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, with a focus on measuring and characterizing space plasma in the ionosphere to help with climate change studies.
CAS Space, a leading commercial rocket maker in China, launches the 11th Kinetica 1 carrier rocket, deploying nine satellites, Dec 10, 2025. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The Nepalese satellite, Slippers2Sat, was built by a group of middle school students in the country with support from the non-profit Antarikchya Pratisthan Nepal and the United States-based Amateur Radio Digital Communications. It will be used for technology demonstration.
The Kinetica 1 model has a length of 30 meters, a diameter of 2.65 meters and a liftoff weight of 135 metric 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.
To date, CAS Space has used its Kinetica 1 rockets to help clients deploy 84 satellites with a combined weight of 11 tons, giving it the lead in China's commercial launch market.
CAS Space, a leading commercial rocket maker in China, launches the 11th Kinetica 1 carrier rocket, deploying nine satellites, Dec 10, 2025. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
CAS Space, a leading commercial rocket maker in China, launches the 11th Kinetica 1 carrier rocket, deploying nine satellites, Dec 10, 2025. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
CAS Space, a leading commercial rocket maker in China, launches the 11th Kinetica 1 carrier rocket, deploying nine satellites, Dec 10, 2025. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
CAS Space, a leading commercial rocket maker in China, launches the 11th Kinetica 1 carrier rocket, deploying nine satellites, Dec 10, 2025. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
CAS Space, a leading commercial rocket maker in China, launches the 11th Kinetica 1 carrier rocket, deploying nine satellites, Dec 10, 2025. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
