Chinese start-up Galactic Energy soared to success with Ceres-1 rocket’s recent mission, sending 2 satellites into orbit on December 4, 2023. (Image credit: CCTV)
Galactic Energy, a Chinese start-up, achieved another successful satellite launch on Monday (Dec. 4).
The company’s Ceres-1 strong rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 6:33 p.m. EST on Monday (2333 GMT; or 7:33 a.m. Beijing time on Dec. 5). The rocket soared into a dark, predawn sky above the Gobi Desert.
The satellites onboard were the Tianyan 16 and Starpool 1A. Both were deployed into near-polar orbits with elevations of approximately 310 miles (500 kilometers).
Related: Chinese business’s rocket launches 3 satellites into orbit
Tianyan 16 is a meteorological satellite carrying microwave detection and other payloads for climatic and sea surface pressure measurements. The satellite was designed and developed by a Beijing-based private company, Cultivate Space.
Starpool 1A is a remote-sensing satellite for Elliptical Space and Time (EllipSpace), another Beijing-based company. Earlier on Monday, its Starpool 02-A and Starpool 02-B satellites were launched in conjunction with the launch of MISRSAT-2 for Egypt via a Long March 2C rocket, also from Jiuquan.
Ceres-1 is a 62-foot-tall (19 meters), four-stage rocket that can send 880 pounds (400 kgs) to low Earth orbit.
The mission was Galactic Energy’s 10th successful Ceres-1 launch and its first since its first failure back in September. The mission on Monday was named “We Won’t Stop.”
Galactic Energy has stated that it has served 16 commercial satellite customers and successfully launched 35 commercial satellites of various types.
The company is also developing a liquid-propellant rocket called Pallas-1. Initially, the rocket will be expendable, but its first stage will become reusable, as the company has expressed.
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Andrew is a self-employed area reporter with a concentrate on reporting on China’s quickly growing area sector. He started composing for Space.com in 2019 and composes for SpaceNews, IEEE Spectrum, National Geographic, Sky & & Telescope, New Scientist and others. Andrew initially captured the area bug when, as a child, he saw Voyager pictures of other worlds in our planetary system for the very first time. Far from area, Andrew takes pleasure in path running in the forests of Finland. You can follow him on Twitter@AJ_FI
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