CASIC Sixth Academy
Hexi Chemistry and Machinery Co.

CASIC Sixth Academy is responsible for solid motors with a diameter less than 2 meters, while CASC 4th Academy - the Academy of Rocket Motors Technology - [ARMT], is responsible for larger solid rocket motors. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense’s Fifth Academy established the institute in Sichuan Province in July 1962, but renamed and moved the institute to Hohhot, Inner Mongolia in 1965. Military Representative Office of PLA Second Artillery Forces is stationed in Hexi Chemical and Machinery Company, Huhehot 010010, China.

Hexi Chemical & Machinery Co. in Huhhot, China, was a subsidiary of China Aerospace Corp., and was a part of the Academy of Rocket Motors Technology (ARMT), also known as the 4th Academy. The unit is known in China as the 41st Research Institute of the 4th Academy of the state-owned China Aerospace Corp. The company is known by a variety of names (the result of inexact translations) - Hexi Chemical & Machinery Co., Hexi Chemical Machinery Company, and Hexi Chemical & Manufacturing Co., among others.

The China Hexi Chemistry and Machinery Company has developed and produced a variety of solid rocket motors since the Company was founded in 1965. The Company possesses advanced production facilities, test equipments, precision analytical apparatus for rapid data acquistition, and a 40T spinning machine. Civil products include pressure vessels, satellite ground receiving antennae, multifunction digital measuring stands, spherical aluminium powder and paints, polyesters and bonding agents.

The company is a manufacturer of subsystems for Chinese satellite launchers and missile systems. The company has developed and produced a variety of solid rocket motors since the Company was founded in 1965. The Company possesses advanced production facilities, test equipments, precision analytical apparatus for rapid data acquistition, and a 40T spinning machine. Civil products include pressure vessels, satellite ground receiving antennae, multifunction digital measuring stands, spherical aluminium powder and paints, polyesters and bonding agents.

Hexi is perhaps best known for its EPKM kick motor, a subsystem on the Chinese Long March CZ-2E. The kick motor is employed to shift satellites from parking orbit to a transfer orbit. This is the EPKM on which illegal technical assistance was allegedly provided by a US company, potentially improving Hexi's capabilities other missile products. In April 2000 the US State Department charged Lockheed Martin Corp. with illegally helping China develop satellite rocket technology that could be useful in launching multiple-warhead missiles.

In 1994, LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION had engaged U.S. specialists in solid rocket motor (SRM) technologies to conduct an assessment of Chinese-manufactured, satellite perigee kick motors (EPKM) for use on the People's Republic of China (PRC) Long March 2E launch vehicle. LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION's customer, Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (ASIASAT) was planning to use the HEXI Chemical Machinery Company's EPKM SRM to boost its ASIASAT-Z telecommunications satellite into final orbit in 1995.

The analysis performed by the U.S. specialists was conducted following a tour of HEXI manufacturing facilities and discussions at HEXI Offices in Hohhot, China in August 1994, during which they were provided access to Chinese test data, analysis, and hardware. (Previously, employees of LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION had traveled to Hohhot, China in January 1994 .where they observed EPKM test firings and held discussions with CGWIC.) The analysis and recommendations of the specialists were set forth in a detailed assessment prepared for LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION in September 1994. The assessment provided analysis and comparison of US-designed SRMs to the EPKM; identified errors in test and evaluation practices and recommendations for improvement; affirmed anomaly analysis methods and techniques; and recommended hardware design.

In 2002, China‘s senior leadership directed that the CASC Fourth Academy spin off a major subsidiary located in Inner Mongolia at least in part intended to enhance competition for contracts related to advanced tactical solid fuel propulsion systems, as well as restartable hybrid liquid-solid engines.

As a new entrant to the defense market, the CASIC Sixth Academy (formerly a subsidiary of the CASC Fourth Academy) reportedly raised private capital to cover R&D expenses for a new solid motor used for operationally responsive satellite launch vehicles. CASIC Sixth Academy manages smaller diameter motors, including kick motors designed to boost communications satellites to geosynchronous orbit. As a final note, Chinese aerospace engineers have advocated development and fielding of solid-fueled launch vehicles.

In August 2009,the Hohhot city government announced the CASIC Sixth Academy’s Honggang Factory (also known as the 359 Factory) completed a construction project for manufacturing of DF-21D solid rocket motors.