Shenzhen Rocket Family

The Shenzhen is a series of disposable rockets developed by KSNA. The Shenzhen is not a rocket family in the traditional sense, but rather refers to any heavy lift rocket produced by KSNA. The rockets are commonly abbreviated to SZ, which is also how these flights are identified.

Shenzhen 1
Shenzhen 1 was KSNA first orbital rocket. The Shenzhen 1 was a 2-stage disposable rocket, with 4 optional LF Boosters. The Shenzhen first core stage was powered by the lethargic RK-7 "Kodiak", while the boosters were powered by the LV-T30 "Reliant".

The RK-7 "Kodiak" was gifted to KSNA by Roskosmos to jump start their space program, leading to a long partnership between the two space agencies. Conversely, the LV-T30 "Reliant" was also passed on to KSNA from Roskosmos. The LV-T30 "Reliant" was used on the Zarya Rocket Family.

The boosters were critical for orbital flight, as the first stage was unable to propel any meaningful payload to orbit. Otherwise, it was only useful as a suborbital stage.

Shenzhen 4
The Shenzhen 4 is the backbone medium lift backbone of the Shenzhen family. The Shenzhen 4 is a 2.5m diameter rocket. It's first stage is powered by 2x- KS-25 Vector engines. These engines were acquired by KNSA when the KASA Shuttle Enterprise broke up during reentry. While the main body of the shuttle would be recovered on KASA land, one of the KS-25 engines had detached and crashed. It was then recovered by KNSA and later reversed engineered to produce their own KS-25.

The Shenzhen 4's first stage was assisted by 4x- 1.8m boosters powered by the LV-TX87 "Bobcat" engine (these were supplied by Roskosmos). This gives the Shenzhen 4 comparable performance to the Pegasus IV Heavy rocket.

The Shenzhen 4's second stage is the RE-L10 "Poodle" engine.

Shenzhen 5
Shenzhen 5 is KSNA backbone super heavy lifter rocket. Comparable to the Hermes Rocket Family, the Shenzhen 5 is in reality very similar to the Hermes III. The Shenzhen 5 is powered by 4x- KS-25 "Vector" engines. The Shenzhen 5's first stage is assisted by 4 SRB KD-25 Kickback.

The second stage is powered by 2 RE-I2 "Skiff" Engines. These engines were recovered by KNSA from the bottom of the ocean from a discarded A-II upperstage from AO-301, the 1st flight of the A-II ontop of the Artemis V. This flight wound up being perfect, as the A-II upperstage reentered and crashed off the coast of KNSA.

Shenzhen 6
Shenzhen 6 is the flagship KSNA rocket. The Shenzhen is KSNA's intersolar capable super heavy lift rocket. The Shenzhen 6's first stage is 5m in diameter, and powered by 8x- KS-25 Vector engines.

Additionally, the Shenzhen 6 is powered by 4 LF 2.5m boosters, each equipped with 4x- KS-25 Vector Engines. This makes the Shenzhen 6 one of the most expensive rockets ever produced, but also one of the most powerful. These boosters are largely inspired by the Shenzhen 4 center core.

The Shenzhen's second stage is powered by 2x- KE-1 "Mastadon" engines. These were made by reverse engineering technical drawings of the engine from KASA's Artemis V rocket.

The Shenzhen 6's third stage is shared with the 2nd stage of the Shenzhen 5, powered by 2 RE-I2 "Skiff" Engines.