Consecutive Success As Rocket Achieves “One Rocket, Eight Satellites,” China’s Commercial Spaceflight Enters The Dedicated‑Ride Era

At midday on April 14, 2026, the Zhongke Aerospace Lijian‑1 Y12 carrier rocket, named iNature, launched from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Zone and successfully delivered eight satellites, including the Postal Savings Bank satellite, into their designated orbits using a “one rocket, eight satellites” mission profile. The flight marked the twelfth mission of the Lijian‑1 vehicle and inaugurated the rocket’s scheduled commercial launch program for the year. Zhongke Aerospace reported that Lijian‑1 currently has an annual production capacity exceeding ten launches, with plans to scale to thirty launches per year.

Lijian‑1 is principally targeted at the microsatellite market and offers a diversified suite of launch services, including dedicated rides, shared rides and piggyback options. Dedicated launches employ a bespoke full‑rocket solution that tailors orbital parameters and launch windows to satellite specifications, enabling rapid scheduling, expedited final assembly and swift deployment, thereby substantially shortening the interval from contract signing to orbital insertion. This service model reflects a broader evolution in commercial launch operations from experimental, bespoke projects toward standardized, service‑oriented offerings: customers specify orbital requirements and then select the appropriate service mode—exclusive rocket use, multi‑satellite co‑manifesting, or utilization of residual payload capacity.

Key technical advances underpinning scalable delivery include standardized satellite‑to‑rocket electrical interfaces and unified satellite mounting structures, which enable a mission‑agnostic design philosophy that decouples the rocket’s baseline production from satellite readiness. This approach allows the rocket’s core stages to enter rolling production ahead of satellite completion, improving launch preparation efficiency. To date, Lijian‑1 has placed 92 satellites into orbit with a cumulative payload mass exceeding 12 tonnes. Leveraging mature multi‑satellite deployment architectures and precise separation technologies, Lijian‑1 holds the national commercial record for the largest multi‑satellite launch, having deployed 26 satellites on a single mission, and has established itself as a principal force in China’s commercial launch sector.

Multi‑satellite separation is treated as an integrated systems engineering challenge encompassing satellite layout, separation sequencing and attitude control to ensure both near‑field and far‑field safety after release. Sun Liangjie, Deputy Chief Designer for Lijian‑1, explained that the program has developed efficient separation timing, attitude‑adjustment calculations and coordinated control schemes adaptable to diverse satellite geometries and mission requirements. The design repertoire includes common mechanical layouts such as tandem deployment, top‑push parallel release and side‑mounted column segments, together with multiple electrical interface modes supporting pre‑separation power‑up, on‑orbit power handover and pre‑launch plug‑and‑release mechanisms. Once a co‑manifest plan is confirmed, the team can rapidly produce a feasible separation sequence tailored to the payload mix.

The Postal Savings Bank satellite and the seven companion spacecraft are high‑resolution optical remote‑sensing platforms characterized by ultra‑high resolution, high integration and intelligent capabilities. These satellites can acquire high‑resolution panchromatic imagery, support same‑orbit stereo and agile imaging, and operate across five spectral bands—panchromatic, blue, green, red and near‑infrared. Imaging modes include conventional push‑broom scanning, stereo acquisition, strip mosaicking and inertial space imaging, enabling the provision of precise, multidimensional imagery for downstream applications.

Operational efficiency has improved markedly: Deputy Commander Meng Xiangfu reported that the order response cycle for Lijian‑1 has been shortened from eight months to within six months, covering the full process from contract signing to launch readiness. This acceleration is driven by rolling production of core rocket stages, streamlined final assembly and testing, and compressed production cycles for satellite‑rocket electrical and structural components. With proprietary launch pads and technical facilities at the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Zone, Lijian‑1 has achieved flight‑like operational cadence, reducing launch‑site testing and preparation to ten days. Plans include increasing launch density and executing an initial sea‑based launch to accommodate low‑inclination missions.

A critical enabler of Lijian‑1’s throughput is exclusive access to launch infrastructure. Zhongke Aerospace’s dedicated launch positions and technical workshops at the Dongfeng test zone eliminate the need to coordinate or queue for shared facilities, creating an infrastructure advantage distinct from shared‑range models. Production innovations further support scale‑up: Lijian‑1 employs a pulse‑line manufacturing approach that modularizes the rocket into standardized components produced at fixed workstations, applies digital management and automated equipment, and reduces total assembly and test cycles to one month. This rhythm‑based, parallelized production and modular final assembly model addresses coordination bottlenecks, data fragmentation and quality risks associated with batch production, and underpins the program’s pathway to an eventual annual capacity of thirty launches.