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Wency Chen

Chinese rocket maker Galactic Energy has successfully sent its Pallas-1 medium-to-large reusable rocket into orbit, marking the latest milestone in Beijing’s drive to develop reusable launch capabilities and narrow the gap with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
The two-stage, liquid-propellant rocket lifted off at 10am on Tuesday from a self-built launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre’s commercial pilot zone in northwestern China’s Gansu province before entering its designated orbit, according to the Beijing-based company.
Standing 52 metres tall with a 3.35-metre diameter, Pallas-1 has a lift-off mass of about 283 tonnes and lift-off thrust of 350 tonnes-force. Its first stage is powered by seven in-house developed liquid oxygen-kerosene engines named CQ-50.
The rocket is designed to carry up to 7 tonnes into low Earth orbit and withstand up to 25 flights.
Galactic Energy did not attempt to recover the booster on Tuesday. The company plans to test re-entry control, grid fins, braking and deceleration systems before attempting a full vertical landing – initially aiming for targeted recovery at sea or on land – to pave the way for high-frequency commercial reuse.
The mission aligns with Beijing’s broader push to become a “space power”, an objective enshrined for the first time in the nation’s latest five-year plan.


China has logged important advances in reusable rocket technology this year. In July, the state-developed Long March-10B became the country’s first orbital booster to be recovered, using a sea-based net system. LandSpace’s Zhuque-3 Y2 later completed an orbital mission before its first stage landed vertically on deployable legs.
Neither recovered booster has flown again yet, leaving SpaceX as the global benchmark to beat. The US company routinely reflies its hardware, and last week its B1067 booster completed a record 37th mission, launching 29 Starlink satellites during SpaceX’s 100th Falcon 9 flight of the year.
Reusable rockets slash launch costs and boost mission frequency, which is useful for satellite deployment, crewed missions, space-station resupply, and deep-space exploration.
Galactic Energy was founded in 2018 by Liu Baiqi and other aerospace engineers. Liu earned a doctorate from Beihang University, where he later taught, before joining the state-owned China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, one of the country’s leading rocket developers.
The company’s portfolio includes two rocket families: the Ceres series of small- and medium-sized solid-fuel launch vehicles, and the larger liquid-propellant Pallas series.
Galactic Energy said it had completed 22 successful orbital launches and delivered 89 commercial satellites to orbit.
It is also among a group of Chinese commercial rocket makers seeking public listings. The company entered the pre-initial public offering tutoring process in October 2025, while rivals LandSpace and CAS Space are further ahead at the inquiry stage of Shanghai’s Star Market.


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The orbital mission marks a key milestone for Beijing’s commercial launch sector


The orbital mission marks a key milestone for Beijing’s commercial launch sector.


Pallas-1 sees China’s Galactic Energy join reusable launch push, closing in on SpaceX

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The orbital mission marks a key milestone for Beijing’s commercial launch sector

The orbital mission marks a key milestone for Beijing’s commercial launch sector