Active
Ceres-1 / Ceres-1S
Four-stage small-lift launch vehicle with three solid-propellant stages and a hydrazine upper stage. The sea-launched Ceres-1S variant flies from a platform in the Yellow Sea.
Galactic EnergyCeres-2
In Development
Larger four-stage solid-fuel rocket with a 3.35-meter diameter, designed to carry roughly four times the payload of Ceres-1 for constellation deployment.
Latest update Sep 2, 2026
01
Current status
Maiden flight from Jiuquan on January 17, 2026 failed after an early-flight anomaly, losing about six satellites. Galactic Energy concluded its investigation on June 17, 2026, attributing the failure to insufficient design margin in the first stage's nozzle throat liner support structure, and says it will fix the deficiency and continue the program; no return-to-flight date has been announced.
02
Specifications5
03
Upcoming milestones1
Announced next steps from Galactic Energy that mention Ceres-2.
2026
Ceres-2 return to flight
Having concluded on June 17, 2026 that the January 2026 maiden failure was caused by a design flaw in the first stage's nozzle throat liner, fix the deficiency and re-fly Ceres-2 to bring its larger solid-lift capacity online for constellation deployment. No return-to-flight date has been announced as of September 10, 2026, and the 2026 window is tightening.
04
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Larger heavy-lift successor to Pallas-1 in single-stick or triple-core (CBC) configurations, powered by an upgraded liquid oxygen-kerosene CQ-90 engine and sized for constellation-scale payloads.
05
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