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Company apologizes, pledges full investigation after Ceres-1 Y-19 rocket launch failure

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Nov 10, 2025 06:34 PM

Chinese private space firm Galactic Energy apologized after the company's CERES-1 Y-19 carrier rocket suffered its first mission failure on Monday.

The commercial carrier rocket failed to place its payload into orbit on Monday after an apparent early shutdown of its fourth stage, the Global Times learned from its developer, Galactic Energy.

According to the company, the CERES-1 Y-19 carrier rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 12:02 pm. The first, second and third stages operated normally and stage separations proceeded as planned. The rocket's fourth stage ignited and burned for approximately 510 seconds before experiencing an anomalous, premature shutdown, preventing the satellite from reaching its intended orbit.

In a statement on its official WeChat account, the company said it will conduct a detailed analysis and keep stakeholders informed as the investigation proceeds. "Specific cause of the failure is under investigation," it added.

"We offer our sincerest apologies to the mission's customer and to everyone who supports Galactic Energy," the company said in a statement shared with the Global Times, adding that it will spare no effort to determine the fault, complete a thorough failure analysis, and prepare for vehicle reset and reflight.

"We will draw lessons from the mission setback and continue to optimize rocket design and quality-management systems," read the statement.

Galactic Energy is one of China's leading private launch providers and it has completed roughly 20 successful launches to date and has placed some 85 satellites into orbit for 27 commercial customers. As of mid-September, 2025, it had carried out 21 launches of its CERES-1 vehicle. The company has been the country's most frequent private launch operator and the first Chinese private firm to achieve consecutive orbital successes, according to media reports.