CAS Space companies have officially confirmed readiness for the second mission. The launch vehicle has already successfully passed all factory checks and technical inspections. Its launch with a group of 18 satellites are planned for October 2026 year.
This flight (the Lijian-2 Y2 mission) will be a major milestone for Beijing in deploying large-scale low-orbit communications satellite constellations, in particular the mega-constellation "Qianfan" (Qianfan / Thousand Sails).
Key details about the mission and the rocket:
Payload: The carrier will launch into orbit 18 satellites in one start. The contract for this launch confirms the company's focus on high-frequency commercial service.
Construction of CBC (Common Booster Core): Lijian-2 is the first Chinese rocket, built according to the universal CBC scheme. This means, that its central unit and side accelerators have an absolutely identical design. Such a modular approach allows you to quickly replace elements in case of problems right before the start.
Characteristics: The length of the rocket is 53 meters, starting table – 625 tons, and liquid oxygen and kerosene serve as fuel. She is able to bring out to 12 tons of cargo into low Earth orbit (LEO) and to 8 tons into sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).
Optimization of production: CAS Space representatives emphasized, that the cycle of assembly and testing of the second flight sample lasted significantly less time, than for the debut rocket (which successfully took off 30 March 2026 year). This indicates the company's transition to standardized serial production at the new "superfactory" in China.
In the future, the developers plan to add a first-degree return system, to make Lijian-2 partially reusable, cutting the cost of launches almost in half compared to the Falcon 9.
Source: https://lookintothe.space