Chinese Rocket Launch Gives Startup a Boost in Its Bid to Be the Nation's SpaceX

Galactic Energy's rocket took off at 1 p.m. local time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. This was the fifth launch of the Ceres-1 rocket and the first in a series of 8 to 10 missions planned for this year.

January 10, 2023

5 minutes

minute read

A Chinese rocket startup has successfully put five satellites into orbit, marking the start of an ambitious launch schedule for 2023. This could give the Beijing-based company an edge in the race to build a Chinese competitor to Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
‍
Galactic Energy's rocket took off at 1 p.m. local time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. This was the fifth launch of the Ceres-1 rocket and the first in a series of 8 to 10 missions planned for this year. The company has completed the orbital launch of 19 commercial satellites, setting a record for private Chinese companies.
The second Galactic Energy launch took place in China on Monday, with state media reporting that a Long March-7 rocket sent three satellites into orbit from the southern island of Hainan. The Long March-7 is part of a series of rockets used by the Chinese government for the space station and other missions.
China's successful rocket launches came on the same day that the UK's space efforts suffered a setback. A rocket launched by Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc. 747 aircraft failed to deploy its nine satellites as planned. The mission, which took off from southwest England, would have added the country to the ranks of nations able to launch from their own soil.
‍
Nearly a decade after China opened the industry to private-sector investment, there are now several domestic companies vying to provide launch services for commercial satellites. Galactic Energy is one of these companies, and is hoping to emulate SpaceX's success.
‍
China's space startups have had a mixed track record. While Galactic Energy has been successful in putting payloads into orbit, most other players have not. One competitor, LandSpace Technology Corp., failed in its attempt to launch a rocket fueled with liquid methane and oxygen last month.
‍
Galactic Energy was founded in 2018 with the goal of providing low-cost and high-frequency solutions that would make space resources more accessible. The company said that it completed an investment round of 1.27 billion yuan ($187 million) last February, with the money being mainly used for the development of reusable rockets.