Chinese commercial launch company Galactic Energy has successfully launched eight satellites into orbit using its Ceres-1 light rocket. The Ceres-1 solid-fuel rocket was launched on 4:07 morning EST (08:07) 17 March from the launcher at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. Galactic Energy confirmed the successful launch within an hour of launch, stating, that eight satellites were sent into sun-synchronous orbits (SSO) height 535 kilometers.
The payload consisted of six Yunyao-1 satellites (55-60). The satellites are intended for the commercial company Tianjin Yunyao Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd, and are designed to obtain meteorological information for global weather forecasting.
Two more payloads were AIRSAT satellites (Zhongke) 06 and 07, equipped with multispectral image scanners, for the Institute of Aerospace Information Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (AIRCAS). Previous AIRSAT satellites are equipped with synthetic aperture radars and optical scanners, that support various Earth observation programs.
The mission was codenamed Auld Lang Syne and was the 18th launch of Ceres-1 and the 17th successful flight of Galactic Energy. The company suffered the only failure in September 2023 year during the 10th launch attempt. A launch vehicle can carry 400 kilograms of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO) or 300 kg for a 500-kilometer solar-synchronous line (SSO). Ceres-1 rocket, became the second, manufactured at the Galactic Energy R&D and production base for new-generation solid-fuel rockets in Jiyang, Sichuan Province. Competitor iSpace has also committed to new premises in Sichuan after receiving funding.
Galactic Energy plans to debut the new Ceres-2 rocket in the first half of the year. According to her data, it is a modernized version of Ceres-1 with increased payload 1600 kg to 500 km on LEO and 1300 kg to 500 km SSO.
The debut of a rocket on liquid fuel
The company is also working on the first launch of its liquid-fueled Pallas-1 rocket, which is later adapted for reuse in the first stage. Pallas-1 has a cargo capacity 8000 kg for 200-kilometer LEO, while the company says, that the option with three stages will be able to transport up to 30 000 kg to the same orbit.
Pallas-1 is just one of a number of government and commercial liquid-fueled launch vehicles, which may debut in 2025 year, and some of them will also try to restore the first degrees.
Source: https://spacenews.com/ceres-1-rocket-launches-8-chinese-commercial-satellites/