A Chinese commercial launch company sent four satellites into orbit on Wednesday with the second sea launch of the Ceres-1 solid rocket.lifted off Wednesday at 4:12 a.m. EDT from a sea platform off the coast of China's eastern province of Shandong., part of a planned constellation of Internet of Things data connectivity satellites for Beijing-based company Guodian Gaoke.
Galactic Energy is one of a number of commercial launch companies in China. It is planning four further Ceres-1 sea launches this year,to Chinese media. It will also conduct land-based launches of Ceres-1. The firm aims to launch its first liquid-propellant rocket, calledWednesday's launch was China's 25th orbital mission of 2024.
Andrew is a freelance space journalist with a focus on reporting on China's rapidly growing space sector. He began writing for Space.com in 2019 and writes for SpaceNews, IEEE Spectrum, National Geographic, Sky & Telescope, New Scientist and others. Andrew first caught the space bug when, as a youngster, he saw Voyager images of other worlds in our solar system for the first time. Away from space, Andrew enjoys trail running in the forests of Finland.