Galactic Energy Fires Reusable Rocket Engine, Discloses Cause of Ceres-1 Failure
Simultaneous work is underway to debut a reusable rocket while returning a solid-fuelled one to flight.
Galactic Energy shared on November 18th that it has completed a series of tests key to first-stage booster reuse with its CQ-50 engine, which burns rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen to generate 50 tons of thrust. Those tests included fast ignition and throttle up, variable thrust levels between 32 and 105 percent of rated thrust, as well as one with a deviated propellant mixture ratio.
The fast ignition and throttle up was said to have demonstrated three breakthroughs with the CQ-50 engine: proving that within seconds the engine can achieve its lowest thrust level before jumping up to its maximum; proving that it has high accuracy and speedy control over thrust levels; and proving that the engine’s processes to do so are reliable and stable. With CQ-50 firing this way, a first-stage booster will be able to perform a landing burn and soft touchdown.
Tests of thrust levels between 32 and 105 percent proved that the engine can operate across those ranges and maintain its continued firing. Other tests with off-standard propellant mixture ratios demonstrated that CQ-50 can meet its operational ranges should an engine’s pumps and injectors run in an unexpected way. Those two test sets are part of Pallas-1’s wider pre-flight testing campaign.
According to Galactic Energy, its teams have conducted extensive firings of CQ-50, with one unit having accumulated 2,500 seconds (41 minutes and 40 seconds) through multiple tests. The company is confident that they have developed a key part of reusable rocket technology.
Galactic Energy’s two-stage partially reusable launch vehicle, Pallas-1, has conducted two critical pre-debut flight tests in recent months. In September, a second-stage firing was completed, followed by a seven-engine first-stage static fire in November. When prepared for flight later this year, Pallas-1 will be 42 meters tall with a diameter of 3.35 meters. It is planned that the rocket will carry 8,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit, while returning its first-stage to Earth with the assistance of four grid fins.
Meanwhile, Galactic Energy has also recently completed its investigation into why the Ceres-1 Y19 vehicle failed on November 10th. In its statement following the investigation, the company wrote:
“On November 20, 2025, Galactic Energy convened a review meeting to close the flight anomaly of the Ceres-1 (Y19) launch vehicle. Following discussion and questioning by the review panel, the following conclusions were reached: the problem was accurately located, the mechanism was clear, the problem was reproduced, the measures taken were verified to be effective, and the lessons learned were applied to other similar situations; therefore, the malfunction could be resolved.”
“On November 10, 2025, the Ceres-1 (Y19) launch executed a commercial launch mission at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, igniting and lifting off at 12:02. The first, second, and third stages performed normally with successful separations. After the fourth stage ignited and flew for 510 seconds, the orbital control engine shut down abnormally early, failing to place the satellite into orbit. Following the mission failure, the company promptly established a root cause analysis team to thoroughly investigate the fault. Through extensive efforts including design and production process reviews, fault tree analysis, root cause identification, problem localization, and mechanism analysis, the cause of the flight failure was determined. Reproduction of the issue and validation of corrective measures were completed via ground thermal vacuum testing and other experiments.”
“The problem was identified as follows: under prolonged high-temperature thermal radiation from the 2500-newton orbital control engine, the solenoid valve control cable overheated, causing the PTFE [(Polytetrafluoroethylene)] insulation layer to fail. This caused a short circuit in the solenoid valve power supply, resulting in premature shutdown of the orbital control engine and mission failure.”
“Galactic Energy will thoroughly learn from the lessons of this flight failure and use this as an opportunity to adopt a more reverent attitude toward space, a more rigorous and meticulous approach, and a more standardized and refined system. We will implement a series of measures to enhance quality throughout the entire process of design, production, testing, and launch, comprehensively improving our quality control capabilities and product reliability to ensure the successful completion of subsequent missions.”
“We express our gratitude to all relevant government departments and industry experts for their concern, guidance, and assistance in the recovery process following this flight failure. We also thank our mission clients, partners, and friends from all sectors of society for their understanding, tolerance, and support. Galactic Energy will always adhere to the principle of quality first, providing the market with more reliable products and higher-quality services, and contributing positively to the development of China’s commercial space industry.”
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It remains to be seen if the Ceres-1 rocket will return to flight before the new year, but there may be enough time to fit mitigative modifications to the soon-to-debut Ceres-2 launch vehicle.