The Ceres-1 carrier rocket is successfully launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China.

Galactic Energy, a private aerospace enterprise based in Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (Beijing E-Town), successfully launched the Ceres-1 carrier rocket at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China on March 17.

The rocket delivered a total of 8 satellites into a 535km sun-synchronous orbit, marking the fourth successful mission carried out by the "E-Town arrow" since 2025 and showcasing the vitality of the Beijing E-Town aerospace industry.

In this launch, the Yunyao-1 55-60 satellites are equipped with GNSS occultation payloads, which can obtain information such as temperature, humidity, pressure, and ionospheric electron density in the atmosphere through the inversion of GNSS occultation data. These data have broad application prospects and value in the field of meteorological observations, providing important data support for weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and space weather alerts.

Additionally, both the Zhongke-06 and 07 satellites are equipped with multispectral camera payloads, capable of capturing high-quality remote sensing images. The addition of these two satellites will further expand the observational capabilities of the AIRSAT constellation for earth remote sensing, increasing the diversity of remote sensing data and providing more precise and efficient remote sensing data services for fields such as agriculture, forestry, natural resources, environmental protection, disaster prevention, and mitigation.

So far, the Ceres-1 carrier rocket has successfully completed 17 launches, delivering 71 satellites into their intended orbits. It holds the record for the most launches, the highest number of satellites launched, and the highest success rate among commercial private rockets in the private aerospace sector of the country.

This year, two newly developed rockets of Galactic Energy – the ALLAS-1, a large reusable liquid carrier rocket, and Ceres-2, a medium-sized solid carrier rocket and an upgraded version of the Ceres-1 – are also scheduled to make their maiden flights.