@AJ_FI Andrew, do you know what's the deal with CAST's Jielong-1 small sat launcher (some source indicating 1st flight very soon, 1 even say next month)? It looks like something that can rob half of the market of their own CZ-11. Why so many internal competitions?
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I've heard both December and January (and earlier), much as you have. Why exactly there could be JL-1 v CZ-11, I can't say, but big picture this and fostering the commercial sector is about driving innovation, lower costs, etc. Even CAS appears to be in on the act.
Hmm.... let me count the number of small sat launchers by Chinese state-owned inst. / enterprises (not counting the likes of OneSpace/LandSpace): CZ-11 (+upgraded ver. soon) KZ-1A/11 KT-2 (suddenly popped out & then disappeared after 1 flight) Now there's JL-1; did I miss any?
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Maybe CZ-6 could go in there? I understood that CAS Institute of Mechanics was jointly working on a liquid launcher, but can't find good sources to back this up.
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The situation in China looks similar to the small sat launcher fights in the US, except: 1. The market for small sats is much murkier than in the West (well, it's the same for most things in China anyway
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2. Somehow a larger proportion of players made it to and off the pad...
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