China’s Galactic Energy: First launch failure

China’s Galactic Energy faced its inaugural launch failure during its 10th attempt, resulting in the loss of a Ceres-1 rocket and its payload

China’s Galactic Energy, a commercial rocket company, encountered a significant setback on September 21, as it failed to launch a Ceres-1 rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China.

Despite airspace closure notices, the launch has yet to materialise, ultimately being a setback for China’s position in the modern space race.

This is one of many of China’s space exploration missions.  

China’s Galactic Energy fails

Six hours after the scheduled liftoff, Galactic Energy broke its silence and announced the unfortunate loss of the Ceres-1 rocket and its precious cargo via its WeChat social network account.

Galactic Energy investigated the launch failure’s specific causes while apologising sincerely to its customers for the mishap.

Impressive record, unforeseen failure for Galactic Energy

Before this incident, Galactic Energy had an impeccable record, successfully executing nine previous launches since November 2021. They had been on a high-density launch schedule, with four missions in less than two months, including the first-ever launch from a mobile sea platform.

Despite this setback, Galactic Energy is gearing up for the debut launch of its Pallas-1 kerosene-liquid oxygen launcher. The reusable two-stage Pallas-1 boasts impressive payload capabilities and is scheduled for its first expendable launch in the third quarter of 2024.

A booming commercial sector in China

The payload, Jilin-1 Gaofen-04B, belonged to Changguang Satellite Technology (CGST), a commercial remote sensing firm affiliated with the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics. CGST plans to expand its satellite constellation significantly.

In a broader context, the incident marked China’s 44th orbital mission of 2023 and its first failure, highlighting the intensifying activity in the country’s commercial launch sector. China’s state-owned primary contractor is also accelerating its launch schedule, reflecting a growing role for retail launch service providers in China’s space endeavours.