China’s private rocket firm Galactic Energy completes first launch mission in 2025

China's private aerospace company Galactic Energy completed its first launch mission in 2025 on Monday, successfully deploying five satellites into sun-synchronous orbit from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province.

The launch included five satellites, namely No.37 to No.40 satellites for the Yunyao constellation, and the A-05 satellite for the Jitianxing constellation, the company told the Global Times on Monday.

Four Yunyao satellites are designed for meteorological applications and interstellar mining network verification of K-Space Aerospace Technology Co in Southwest China's Sichuan Province. The Jitianxing A-05 satellite is installed with a hyperspectral camera for capturing remote sensing images, enabling monitoring in multiple sectors such as environmental monitoring, forest management, and urban planning, among others.

The mission utilized Galactic Energy's self-developed carrier rocket Ceres I Remote 16, manufactured at the company's new solid-propellant spacecraft R&D and production facility in the city of Ziyang, Sichuan Province.

As of Monday, the Ceres-1 carrier rocket series has successfully completed 16 launch missions, sending a total of 63 satellites into orbits, establishing it as the most frequently launched and reliable commercial carrier rocket in the private space sector, according to Galactic Energy.