Galactic Energy successfully launched its Ceres-2 rocket on November 7, placing four satellites into their planned orbits. The launch occurred at 7:37 a.m. Beijing time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, according to Xinhua.
The mission, designated Y3, marks the vehicle's return to flight after an unsuccessful maiden mission (Y1) on January 17. This successful launch comes nearly ten months after the initial failure. While the report confirms the successful outcome of the Y3 flight, it does not provide a detailed account of the corrective work performed between the two missions.
The four payloads delivered to orbit included a university satellite, an experimental spacecraft, and two other satellites identified in a Chinese mission announcement. Xinhua did not disclose the specific orbital parameters, the individual masses of the payloads, or a timetable for commissioning the spacecraft.
Ceres-2 is an enlarged successor to the Ceres-1 rocket. It features a design combining three solid-propellant stages with a liquid upper stage. The rocket measures approximately 30 meters in height and 2.35 meters at its widest point, with a liftoff mass of roughly 100 metric tons. It offers fairing options with diameters of 2.9 meters and 3.35 meters.
The rocket has a stated payload capacity of 1.3 metric tons to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit, a significant increase from the 300 kilograms capacity of the Ceres-1 on the same mission profile. This capacity rating describes the rocket's design capability rather than the combined mass of the payloads carried on this specific flight. The vehicle is intended for small and medium satellite constellations and replacement launches for larger networks.
This successful mission serves as a recovery milestone for this specific solid-propellant launch vehicle. It should not be confused with Galactic Energy's separate liquid-propellant rocket program. While the reports establish orbital delivery on November 7, they do not yet establish a sustained flight cadence for the Ceres-2.
