Ceres-1 (launch vehicle)

2025: Failed launch - satellites lost 10 minutes after launch

On November 9, 2025, a solid-fuel launch vehicle Ceres-1 Galactic Energy with three satellites, which were planned to be launched into low Earth orbit, was launched from the Jiuquan cosmodrome in northwestern China. However, the launch was unsuccessful, as a result of which all spacecraft were lost 10 minutes after launch.

The payload was two satellites of the Chinese commercial group Jilin-1 to observe the Earth, as well as an apparatus developed by Zhongbei University. Reportedly, the first three stages of the Ceres-1 worked out normally, but the fourth stage turned off too early, which is why it was not possible to put spacecraft into the calculated orbit.

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Фото: space.com

We offer our most sincere apologies to the mission customer and everyone who supports Galactic Energy. We will learn from this failure and continue to optimize the design of the rocket, as well as quality management systems, the carrier manufacturer said in a statement.

Ceres-1 has a height of about 19 meters. The rocket is designed to launch a payload weighing up to 400 kg into low Earth orbit or up to 300 kg into a solar-synchronous orbit. The first three stages of the carrier are solid fuel, while the fourth stage, which performs the functions of an orbital launch unit, is equipped with a liquid-propellant rocket engine for multiple activation.

The rocket debuted in November 2020 and successfully completed nine consecutive launches. The Ceres-1 suffered its first failure in September 2023. Then the carrier completed 11 successful missions in a row. The launch made on November 10, 2025 was the 22nd in a row for Ceres-1 and the second unsuccessful in the history of this rocket. Meanwhile, Galactic Energy is developing more powerful Ceres-2 and Pallas-1 launch vehicles.^[1]

2023: Successful launch from offshore platform

On September 5, 2023, a four-stage commercial rocket of the Ceres-1 light class, created by the Chinese company Galactic Energy, first successfully launched from an offshore platform.

The Ceres-1 solid fuel carrier is designed to launch a payload weighing up to 400 kg into low Earth orbit or up to 300 kg into a solar-synchronous orbit. During the launch, the rocket launched from a platform located in the East China Sea near the city of Haiyang in Shandong province. The platform is a special mobile barge designated DE FU 15002.

Ceres-1 solid fuel carrier

The payload was four spacecraft of Guodian Gaoke, which is deploying a low-orbit satellite constellation of the narrowband [[Internet of Things ([[Internet of Things (IoT)|IoT)]]]] Tianqi. Such devices are endowed with propulsion systems that allow you to perform maneuvers in orbit. The Tianqi constellation is expected to combine 38 satellites in 2024.

Founded in early 2018 by former employees of the state-run China Rocket Research Institute (CALT), Galactic Energy said the Ceres-1 launch from the floating platform went ahead as planned. All four satellites are launched into given orbits. Sets numbered 21-24 are used to receive and relay messages from IoT equipment.

It is noted that the spaceport near the city of Haiyan in the future will be able to be used to launch carriers with liquid rocket engines. This site is part of a larger program China aimed at developing the space sphere, providing greater flexibility in launches and redundancy. Potentially, this platform will help reduce the risk of missile debris falling into the country.^[2]

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