Despite a setback with the Kinetica-1 solid rocket, China concluded 2024 with a record-breaking 68 space launch attempts, exceeding the previous year's 67. The Kinetica-1 (Lijian-1) launch, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on December 26th, ended in failure. CAS Space, the launch operator, confirmed that the rocket's third stage lost attitude three seconds after ignition, triggering the self-destruct mechanism. "We can confirm that the first two stages were nominal. Stage 3 lost attitude three seconds after ignition and the self-destructing mechanism was activated,” CAS Space stated.
The failure impacted the deployment of several satellites, including CASAA-Sat from the LAM, supported by CNES, and DEAR-3, a 300-kilogram spacecraft from AZSpace. This marks the first loss for the Kinetica-1 rocket, following five successful previous missions. While the investigation into the failure continues, CAS Space plans the first launch of its Kinetica-2 rocket in late 2025.
China's 68 launch attempts in 2024, including two failures (Kinetica-1 and iSpace's Hyperbola-1), place it second globally behind the U.S. (over 150 launches), ahead of Russia (17 launches). Although the state-owned CASC initially forecast around 100 launches, the actual number fell short of projections due to setbacks experienced by both CASC and commercial entities like Landspace, Galactic Energy, and Orienspace. China is addressing infrastructure bottlenecks by developing new commercial launch sites.
Despite the high number of launches, China's reliance on older rockets and smaller solid rockets remains significant. About half the launches used Long March rockets, while light-lift solid rockets accounted for 17 launches. Jiuquan proved to be the busiest spaceport, with 21 launches. The year also saw debut flights for several rockets, including Orienspace's Gravity-1, and witnessed significant increases in the number of spacecraft launched into orbit, exceeding 260, driven partly by megaconstellation projects. This points to further growth in Chinese launch activity in the coming years.