Galactic Energy launches Ceres 1 rocket in seventh sea-based mission

Galactic Energy, a leading private rocket maker, conducted its seventh sea-based launch of its Ceres 1 carrier rocket on Wednesday morning.

According to a news release from the Beijing-based company, the rocket lifted off at 11:42 am from a launch service ship in the Yellow Sea off Shandong province and soon placed a large remote-sensing satellite into low-Earth orbit at an altitude of about 541 kilometers.

The satellite was built by Guangdong Tianyuan Technology, a private satellite operator registered in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province. It is designed to collect data for natural resources monitoring, agricultural yield forecasting, ocean observation, ecological protection and emergency disaster relief.

The solid-propellant Ceres 1 rocket stands about 20 meters tall and has a diameter of 1.4 meters. It primarily uses solid propellant and has a liftoff weight of 33 metric tons. It can carry a single 300-kilogram satellite or multiple satellites with a combined weight of 300 kg into a 500-km sun-synchronous orbit. It can also carry a 350-kg payload into low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 200 km.

To date, the Ceres 1 has completed 25 flights, placing 90 commercial satellites into orbit for 28 clients.