ExPace

Catalog — Rockets

• 2020

  Kuaizhou 11

  Kuaizhou 11 (KZ-11) is the largest model in the Kuaizhou family, a Chinese series of "quick-reaction" orbital launch vehicles manufactured by ExPace, the commercial subsidiary of the state-owned CASIC. The name Kuaizhou means "speedy vessel", and the concept defining the whole family is a storable solid-propellant rocket carried and erected on a transporter erector launcher, able to lift off from rough terrain with a launch readiness time that can be as short as several hours. Compared with Kuaizhou 1 and 1A, flying since 2013 with three solid stages and a liquid fourth stage integrated into the satellite system, the KZ-11 is a substantially larger vehicle: 2.2 m in diameter, about 78 tonnes at liftoff and fairings of 2.2 to 2.6 m. Its stated capacity is 1,500 kg to low Earth orbit and 1,000 kg to a 700 km Sun-synchronous orbit, far beyond the 200 kg the KZ-1A places in that same orbit. The series grew out of CASIC's anti-satellite and missile-defence interceptor technology, in particular the DF-21 intermediate-range ballistic missile, with the declared aim of rapidly replacing Chinese satellites damaged or destroyed in orbit. The low infrastructure requirements translate into an advertised price under US$10,000 per kilogram of payload. The KZ-11 operates from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.