Sea launch of rocket first by private entity

Rocket manufacturer Galactic Energy has become the first Chinese private company to carry out a sea-based launch mission.

The Beijing-headquartered company announced on Tuesday evening that the seaborne variant of its CERES 1 carrier rocket lifted off at 5:34 pm from a mobile launch platform — a modified deck barge — in the Yellow Sea off the coast of Shandong province, and sent four satellites into orbit about 800 kilometers above Earth.

The satellites were built by Guodian Gaoke, a Beijing-based satellite operator, and will be used to collect data for the internet of things, according to Galactic Energy.

With the launch, the CERES 1 became the third Chinese rocket model and the first made by the private sector capable of liftoff from both land and sea.

Before this, China had carried out five sea-based launches — four by the Long March 11 rocket and one by the Smart Dragon 3 — which transported 37 satellites into their orbits. Both rockets are products of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, a subsidiary of the State-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

Xia Dongkun, vice-president at Galactic Energy, told China Daily that his company chose to carry out sea-based launches because this method provides an alternative to China's land-based launch facilities that are already busy handling government-backed programs.

"It enables us to make more launches each year," Xia said, adding that the other considerations are safety and efficiency.

Compared with conventional land-based launches, a sea mission has a lower risk of causing trouble for densely populated areas along the rocket's trajectory. The method also allows launches to be made near the equator, which increases the rocket's carrying capacity, lowers launch costs and extends the life span of some satellites, he explained.

So far, Galactic Energy has carried out nine orbital launches in a row, far outperforming other private competitors. The CERES 1 flights have placed a total of 33 satellites into space.

The solid-propellant CERES 1 is about 20 meters tall, has a diameter of 1.4 meters. With a liftoff weight of 33 metric tons, it is capable of sending a 300-kilogram satellite to a 500-km sun synchronous orbit, or a 350-kg payload to a low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 200 km.

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn