Hong Kong
CNN
—
Galactic Power, a rocket startup in China, launched 5 satellites into orbit on Monday, boosting the non-public firm’s ambition to turn into the Chinese language rival to SpaceX.
Galactic Power’s Ceres-1 rocket lifted off Monday from the Jiuquan Satellite tv for pc Launch Middle in northwestern China, sending 5 industrial satellites into their supposed orbits, the Beijing-based firm mentioned in an announcement on the identical day.
The 5 satellites might be used for telecommunication, climate forecasts and scientific analysis for presidency businesses within the nation, the corporate added.
The mission marks the fifth launch of the Ceres-1 rocket — a small strong gas orbital rocket designed by the corporate, Galactic Power mentioned. To date, it has efficiently put 19 industrial satellites into house, setting a document for a non-public Chinese language agency.
“It sounds the trumpet for us to begin a high-density orbital launch in 2023,” it mentioned, including that it plans to finish 8 to 10 missions for this yr.
Galactic Power performed the primary Ceres-1 launch on November 7, 2020, which makes it the second Chinese language non-public firm to launch a satellite tv for pc into low Earth orbit. A Beijing-based startup, i-House, was the primary to take action in 2019.
Many Chinese language industrial satellite tv for pc launch suppliers are at present utilizing small solid-propellant rockets like Ceres. However some corporations are creating or testing reusable liquid-propellant rocket engines, which permit exact management of the thrust after ignition.
Final yr, Galactic Power efficiently examined its liquid-propellant Welkin engine for its next-generation rockets. Its founder Liu Baiqi mentioned that they need to construct the Chinese language model of the Merlin engine, which was developed by SpaceX.
Based in 2018, Galactic Power has acquired a number of rounds of financing from non-public fairness traders and enterprise capitalists, price greater than $250 million in complete. Main traders embody the funding arm of Aviation Business Company of China, a state-owned aerospace and protection conglomerate.
China’s industrial house business has expanded quickly since 2015, when the federal government started encouraging non-public corporations to enter the house sector. Earlier than that, launching rockets and satellites had been the monopoly of state-owned aerospace corporations.
Over the previous few years, greater than 170 non-public corporations have entered the house business, based on a 2020 analysis report by Future House Analysis, a analysis institute based mostly in Beijing.
The profitable launch by the Chinese language startup got here on the identical day that Virgin Orbit suffered failure on its first rocket launch from the UK.