The vehicle serial number used for the Shiyan-11 mission was Y13. The Kuaizhou-1A can launch up to 300 kilograms to low Earth orbit or 250 kilograms to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit at an advertised price point of $20,000 per kilogram. The KZ-1A’s lower stages fall to Earth in inland drop zones similar to those used for other Chinese launches. In addition, the expendable Kuaizhou-1A rocket features grid fins on the bottom of the rocket to improve flight control, in a manner similar to the Soviet N1 moon rocket, though it would not be able to use the grid fins to make a controlled landing like the reusable SpaceX Falcon 9. It made its first flight in 2013, with the commercial version known as Kuaizhou-1A first flying in January 2017. The Kuaizhou-1 is based on the Dongfeng 21 (DF-21) intermediate range ballistic missile and uses solid propellant for its first three stages, with a liquid-fueled fourth stage to inject satellites into orbit. Two KZ-1A flights have been made from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center many hundreds of kilometers to the east. All but two KZ-1A flights have been made from Jiuquan so far, the same space center used for crewed Shenzhou launches and dating back to the first Chinese satellite launch in 1970. The KZ-1A is designed to launch after being set up by a transporter-erector launcher (TEL) vehicle, and has minimal infrastructure requirements which are claimed to bring substantial cost savings. The Kauizhou-1A vehicle vertical at Jiuquan prior to launch
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