The Ceres-2 Y3 launch vehicle successfully reached its target orbit on November 7 at 7:37 AM from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The mission deployed four satellites: Guanlan, Yunyao-1 28, North University of China-1, and Juntian-1 06A.
This launch marks a successful return to flight for the Ceres-2 rocket, approximately 9.5 months after the failure of the maiden flight on January 17, 2026. The vehicle is developed by Galactic Energy as an upgraded, medium-sized solid-fuel rocket.
The rocket stands about 30 meters tall with a maximum diameter of 2.35 meters and a liftoff mass of 100 tons. It features a three-stage solid configuration with a liquid upper stage. Its payload capacity to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit is 1.3 tons.
Compared to the Ceres-1 rocket, which has a payload capacity of 0.3 tons, the Ceres-2 offers a 3.3-fold increase in capacity. This upgrade allows Galactic Energy to enter the ton-level launch market for small and medium-sized satellite constellations.
