The company announced the news Wednesday at the Third China (International) Commercial Aerospace Forum in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.

The Kuaizhou-11 rocket will be launched via a mobile launch vehicle. With a lift-off mass of 78 tonnes, the rocket was designed to launch low-Earth and Sun- synchronous orbit satellites.

Kuaizhou, which is Chinese for fast ship, is a low-cost solid-fuelled carrier rocket with high reliability and a short preparation period.

Globally, the launch cost of small commercial carrier rockets usually ranges from 25,000 to 40,000 U.S. dollars per kilogram of payload, according to a CASIC spokesperson.

The spokesperson said Kuaizhou rockets are price competitive. The launch cost of the Kuaizhou-1A was less than 20,000 U.S. dollars per kg of payload, while Kuaizhou-11 rocket is less than 10,000 U.S. dollars.

In January, the Kuaizhou-1A rocket sent three satellites into space in its first commercial mission.

Quelle: Xinhua

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Update: 31.12.2017

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China's Kuaizhou-11 rocket scheduled to launch in first half of 2018

China's Kuaizhou-11 solid-fuelled carrier rocket is scheduled to launch for the first time, in the first half of 2018, according to the rocket's developer and producer China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC).

The preparation work for the launch has been completed, and the rocket will send six satellites into space in its first mission, said Zhang Di, an official with CASIC.

Kuaizhou, which is Chinese for fast ship, is a low-cost solid-fuelled carrier rocket with high reliability and a short preparation period.

The launch cost of the Kuaizhou rockets has been reduced to 5,000 U.S. dollars per kg of payload, which is considerably lower than its international competitors, according to Zhang.

With a lift-off mass of 78 tonnes, the rocket was designed to launch low-Earth and Sun-synchronous orbit satellites.

In January, the Kuaizhou-1A rocket sent three satellites into space in its first commercial mission.

Quelle: Xinhua