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Galactic Energy - Ceres-1 (Y1) Carrier Rocket

Ceres-1 (Y1) is a four-stage rocket with a total length of 19 m and a diameter of 1.4 m. The first to third stages are equipped with a solid rocket fueled by hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB), and the fourth stage is equipped with a liquid rocket that uses hydrazine fuel. The detailed specifications of each are unknown, but it is possible that the solid rockets in the first and second stages were diverted from the PLA's quasi-intermediate-range ballistic missiles "Dongfeng 25" and "Dongfeng 21". Ceres-1 has a launch capacity of 350 kg in low earth orbit and 270 kg in sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 km, similar to the "Electron" rocket of the US Rocket Lab.

Galactic Energy's carrier rockets are named after larger asteroids [aka minor planets, since 2006, called dwarf planets]. A remarkable law respecting the various distances of the planets from the sun was announced by a German astronomer named Bode, who died in 1826. The law, if we may so term it, is not strictly accurate in all cases, but it is useful as an aid to the memory. This singular relation between the various distances was known to Kepler, but as it was first published by Bode, it bears his name. At the time of its announcement (1778) neither Uranus, Neptune, nor any of the asteroids had been discovered ; and hence there was a gap in the series between Mars and Jupiter. It was suggested, therefore, that there might be a planet somewhere in this wide interval that had hitherto escaped detection. Three years later Sir William Herschel discovered Uranus, and as it was found to conform to the law it was decided to make an organized search for the planet necessary to complete the series. A society of astronomers was formed; the zodiac was divided into twenty four zones, and cach zone was confided to a member of the society. At length, on the first day of the new century, the small planct Ceres was discovered by Professor Giuseppe [Joseph] Piazzi, and was found to occupy the required position. Thus the law was found to hold good in a remarkable way in the case of all the planets from Mercury to Uranus. Ceres was discovered at Palermo, in Sicily, on the 1st January, 1801, by M. Piazzi; it was then situated in Taurus. It was briefly considered to be the 5th planet. Ceres is named after the goddess of growing plants, harvest, and motherly love. The word cereal comes from the same name. It was again discovered by Dr. Olbers, of Bremen, on the 1st January, 1807, nearly in the place where it was expected to be in from the calculations of Baron Zach. This planet is of a ruddy color, and appears about the size of a star of the eighth magnitude. The discovery of Ceres was shortly followed by the discovery of other small planets in the same region. Because Ceres is spherical, it is unlike the majority of the members of the asteroid belt. Its composition is also slightly different than its neighbors in the belt. Its surface is probably covered with a mixture of water ice, carbonates, and clays. This leads astronomers to believe that it formed differently from the other bodies in the asteroid belt. Ceres formed about 4.5 billion years ago when the solar system was forming. It is 950 kilometers wide. Scientists believe that Ceres has a rocky core and an icy mantle. Some scientists also believe that it has a liquid water layer in its interior. Scientists also believe it may have a liquid layer somewhere below the surface. Ceres was the largest known asteroid in our Solar System. About one-third of all the material (or mass) found in the asteroid belt was in Ceres. Ceres is an ice-rich world that may be a displaced trans-Neptunian object. Sientists almost certainly do not have any meteorites that closely resemble material that would be brought back from Ceres. When NASA's Dawn arrived in 2015, Ceres became the first dwarf planet to receive a visit from a spacecraft. The largest body in the asteroid belt, Ceres has amassed a number of references in science fiction stories of the 20th and 21st centuries. In the TV series "The Expanse," Ceres is inhabited by humans, and in the PC Game Descent, one of the secret levels takes place on Ceres. In the video game Destiny, Ceres was colonized by an alien race called the Fallen at the end of humanity's Golden Age. Ceres was later destroyed by a civilization of post-humans who inhabit the asteroid belt. At 15:32 (Beijing time) on November 7, 2020,a commercial carrier rocket “Ceres-1 (Y1)” developed by Galactic Energy (Beijing) Space Technology Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as " Galactic Energy") was successfully launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The launch smoothly sent the National Hi-tech Apocalypse satelite #11 accurately into the predetermined orbit. This is the first launch mission carried out by Galactic Energy . It is also the first time that China's private commercial rocket has entered the 500km solar synchronous orbit, which is another major breakthrough in China's commercial space.

"Getting into orbit is a basic threshold for a rocket company. You have to cross that threshold to talk about business, to talk about markets. Although China’s private commercial rocket started 30 years later than that of the United States, with the encouragement of national policy support, the vigorous increase in the capital market and the unremitting efforts of entrepreneurs, the launch of the SSO was realized in just five years, which is a great achievement. It marks the real arrival of China's commercial spaceflight era. As the first company in China to enter 500km Sun-synchronous Orbit(SSO),Galactic Energy is a symbol of our ability to engage in commercial launch eras, but this is just the beginning, our goal is to make commercial rocket more reliable, more economic, higher density of emission, to complete the beneficial complementarity of the China aerospace, and to support the rapid development of China's commercial space industry. " said Dr. Liu Baiqi, CEO of Galactic Energy.

Ceres-1 (Y1) Carrier Rocket is a four-stage solid carrier rocket independently designed by Galactic Energy. The first three stages are powered by solid engines, and the fourth stage is an advanced liquid upper stage. The rocket is 1.4m in diameter, 19m in length, having a take-off mass of 31t, and a carrying capacity of 300kg in 500km SSO. In addition to the launch satellites, the capsule also carried three chips, respectively, Galactic Energy united the famous network show Summer of the Band 2 through the WEIBO campaign, colleccted of #The words to the one you care the most# from the fans, pop music artist Pang Kuan’s new single Time After Time, and the best wishes to Country’s space exploration from Galactic Energy Company's internal staff. were sent togetere into the space carried by the upper stage of the rocket; At the same time, during this launch, with the help of the terminal stage of the rocket from orbit passivation, Galactic Energy and Beijing Aerospace Ark Space Technology Co., Ltd. jointly carried out the verification of the key technology of "commercial recoverable satellite orbit reentry".

The successful launch of the Ceres-1 is another milestone in the development of China's private commercial launch vehicle industry. Unlike the state-owned system, commercial space is market-oriented and emphasizes economic closed-loop. On the premise of reliability and economy, the enterprise must have extremely excellent capability in innovation, rapid iteration and leap of commercial space technology. Galactic Energy has carried out many innovations around Ceres-1 carrier rocket. The attitude and orbit control power system with low chamber pressure, high specific impulse and high loading ratio has been independently developed to reduce weight and increase efficiency. It innovates and adopts the simple control technology of the rolling channel of the rocket for low fuel consumption, which greatly improves the delivery efficiency. The first rocket mode accurate prediction method based on 3D solid modeling and parameter normalization has improved the prediction accuracy by an order of magnitude. The launch is also the first application of technologies such as vertical self-targeting and vector solid thrust control on private commercial launch vehicles.

"In addition to completing the innovative breakthrough in technology, Galactic Energy is also actively promoting the cross boundry cooperation of space science technology and social cultural life, with the goal of transmitting the spirit of space exploration to young people, and actively trying to dig a new form for the space knowledge popularization. Resulting in the birth of the first cross-border cooperation between private space and entertainment shows in China, and completed the first music release in space. Thanks to the "Summer of the Band 2" program team and musician Pang Kuan, this cooperation has brought infinite inspiration to our subsequent crossover and added more possibilities to the diversified development of space science.

"In the era when China is vigorously building a space power and the "new infrastructure" of space Internet, Galactic Energy has the honor to become an important participant in the new era, and we feel very proud of it. Thanks to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, Beijing Municipal Government and other agencies and departments for their guidance and help to Galactic Energy. We would like to thank China Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, China Science and Industry Corporation, China Electronic Science and Technology Corporation and other companies for their help and support to Galactic Energy. We would like to thank every employee of Galactic Energy for their efforts and hard work. And special thank to every employee's family for their kindly support and tolerance."

The successful launch of "Ceres 1 (Yaoyi) Jianyang" is the first application of vertical self-targeting and vector solid thrust control technologies on private commercial launch vehicles, marking Jianyang's aerospace industry has achieved a new leap from nothing. Xia Dongkun, vice president of Galaxy Power, revealed to Yuqian Sankei Observation that since the successful launch of the "Ceres 1 (Yao 1) Jianyang" carrier rocket in November 2020, the current "Ceres 1 (Yao 2, Yao 3)" launch has been put on the agenda, and the launch is expected to be completed in November 2021 and January 2022. After the launch of the third rocket, the company will enter mass production, and the process research and development will be moved to Jianyang in the future. The two rockets to be launched will be assembled at the commercial launch vehicle innovation research and development production base in the Chengdu Aerospace Industry Functional Zone.

Rocket company Galactic Energy launched its second Ceres-1 rocket 06 December 2021, becoming the first Chinese private firm to reach orbit twice. The four-stage Ceres-1 solid rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 11:13 p.m. Monday, successfully placing five satellites into a roughly 500-kilometer Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). The launch was China’s 48th of the year, and extends the country’s new national launch record for a calendar year. The launch follows the company’s first launch in November 2020, which made Galactic Energy only the second Chinese private rocket firm to reach orbit, following the success of iSpace in July 2019. The company announced that they planned 5 launches of Ceres-1 in 2022, plus getting their RP-1/LOX-to-be-reusable Pallas-1 (4t LEO/2t SSO) flying NET late 2022.