China Launches New Commercial Rocket Kuaizhou-1A

China's carrier rocket Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) sent three satellites into orbit in its first commercial liftoff on Monday.

The rocket, carrying one Satellite JL-1 and two CubeSats XY-S1 and Caton-1, blasted off from northwest China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Monday afternoon Beijing Time, according to a statement from the center.

"The KZ-1A was developed from the Kuaizhou-1 rocket. Today's launch was its maiden voyage. It is a low-cost carrier rocket with short pre-launch preparation and is capable of delivering its 300-kilogram payload to the near-Earth orbit," said Zhang Di, vice-president of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) Fourth Academy.

"The KZ-1A sent into orbit three satellites in one liftoff. The JL-1-03 is a smart video satellite. And the other two, XY-S1 and Caton-1, are both CubeSats weighing between two and three kilograms," Zhang added.

The JL-1 is capable of providing high-definition video images which is expected to be used for land resources and forestry surveying, environmental protection, transport and disaster prevention and relief purposes.

The XY-S1 and Caton-1 satellites are experimental satellites to test technologies of low-orbit narrow-band communication and VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) respectively.

A rocket technology company under the CASIC is responsible for Monday's launch mission. The success of the mission marks the company's capability of providing flexible, convenient, quick-to-launch and economical launch vehicles for domestic and overseas clients, said the statement.
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