China's Galactic Energy launches three satellites

Galactic Energy, a private rocket maker in Beijing, launched its Ceres 1 rocket on Friday evening, sending three satellites into orbit.

The rocket lifted off at 7:39 pm from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and placed the satellites in a sun-synchronous orbit, the company said in a news release.

The satellites will collect atmospheric data such as temperature, humidity and pressure, provide remote-sensing information for scientific research, and carry out in-orbit technology demonstrations, according to the company. In addition, the rocket carried a Galactic Energy-built testbed designed to remain in orbit for technological testing.

The solid-fueled Ceres 1 is about 20 meters tall with a diameter of 1.4 meters. It has a liftoff weight of 33 metric tons and can place 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 into low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 200 kilometers.

Friday's flight was the 21st mission of the Ceres 1, which has deployed 85 commercial satellites. The rocket now has the highest success rate among Chinese private launchers, the company said. The mission was China's 52nd space launch of the year.

Earlier Friday, China used a Long March 3C rocket to send the experimental Shiyan 29 satellite into orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province. The satellite will conduct space environment exploration and related technology tests.