Chinese Lijian-2 rocket launches new group of satellites
A Lijian-2 Y2 carrier rocket carrying a new satellite group blasts off from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 3, 2026. China successfully launched the Lijian-2 Y2 carrier rocket on Tuesday. Lifting off at 8:15 a.m. (Beijing Time), the rocket sent its payloads, a new satellite group, into the planned orbit. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)
China successfully launched a Lijian-2 Y2 carrier rocket from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China on Tuesday.
Lifting off at 8:15 a.m. (Beijing Time), the rocket sent 18 satellites of the Spacesail Constellation into planned orbit, with these forming part of China’s commercial low-orbit satellite network. This successful launch marks the first time the Lijian-2 has carried out a large-scale satellite internet constellation deployment mission.
The Lijian-2 is a liquid-fueled carrier rocket independently developed by CAS Space. It is China’s first launch vehicle featuring a “universal booster core” configuration, with a payload capacity of 8 tonnes to a 500-km sun-synchronous orbit and 12 tonnes to a 200-km low Earth orbit.
CAS Space said the mission was the second flight of the Lijian-2 rocket and the 18th launch of the Lijian series. The Lijian series has placed one spacecraft and 139 satellites into space, bringing the total in-orbit payload mass to over 27 tonnes and serving nearly 40 customers both at home and abroad. ■
A Lijian-2 Y2 carrier rocket carrying a new satellite group blasts off from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 3, 2026.
China successfully launched the Lijian-2 Y2 carrier rocket on Tuesday. Lifting off at 8:15 a.m. (Beijing Time), the rocket sent its payloads, a new satellite group, into the planned orbit. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)
A Lijian-2 Y2 carrier rocket carrying a new satellite group blasts off from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 3, 2026.
China successfully launched the Lijian-2 Y2 carrier rocket on Tuesday. Lifting off at 8:15 a.m. (Beijing Time), the rocket sent its payloads, a new satellite group, into the planned orbit. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)
A Lijian-2 Y2 carrier rocket carrying a new satellite group blasts off from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 3, 2026.
China successfully launched the Lijian-2 Y2 carrier rocket on Tuesday. Lifting off at 8:15 a.m. (Beijing Time), the rocket sent its payloads, a new satellite group, into the planned orbit. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)
A Lijian-2 Y2 carrier rocket carrying a new satellite group blasts off from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 3, 2026.
China successfully launched the Lijian-2 Y2 carrier rocket on Tuesday. Lifting off at 8:15 a.m. (Beijing Time), the rocket sent its payloads, a new satellite group, into the planned orbit. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)
A Lijian-2 Y2 carrier rocket carrying a new satellite group blasts off from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Nov. 3, 2026.
China successfully launched the Lijian-2 Y2 carrier rocket on Tuesday. Lifting off at 8:15 a.m. (Beijing Time), the rocket sent its payloads, a new satellite group, into the planned orbit. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)
Reference Link:- https://english.news.cn/20261103/30239f1984404342b6086d29552d9e0e/c.html
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
