China's Galactic Energy launches Ceres 1 rocket, deploying eight satellites

Galactic Energy, a private rocket maker in Beijing, conducted the 18th launch of its Ceres 1 rocket on Monday afternoon, deploying eight satellites into orbit.

The company said in a statement that the rocket lifted off at 4:07 pm from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and placed the satellites in a sun-synchronous orbit about 535 kilometers above Earth.

Remote-sensing satellites are designed to detect and monitor physical characteristics of objects on land or sea by measuring reflected and emitted radiation. The eight satellites will gather atmospheric data, including temperature, humidity and pressure, and capture multi-spectral images of designated areas on Earth. Their data will be used for weather forecasting, climate monitoring, agricultural surveys, forest management, environmental and resource mapping, as well as disaster prevention and relief, the company said.

The solid-propellant Ceres 1 rocket stands about 20 meters tall, with a diameter of 1.4 meters. It primarily burns solid propellant and has a liftoff weight of 33 metric tons. It can deliver a single 300-kilogram satellite or multiple satellites with a combined weight of 300 kilograms into a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. It can also carry a 350-kilogram payload to a low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 200 kilometers.

Monday's launch was the 18th flight of the Ceres 1, which has placed 71 commercial satellites into orbit. The model now has the highest success rate among all Chinese private rockets.

The mission was China's 12th space launch of the year.