Just two days after a sea launch coded "Beautiful World", Chinese commercial space company Galactic Energy launched another rocket on Friday. The latter has been dubbed "Heroes" and has set a new record for the shortest interval between two commercial launches by a private Chinese rocket company.
At 7:39 a.m. Beijing time on Friday, the CERES-1 Y12 carrier rocket blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. It delivered five satellites into the planned twilight orbit, at an altitude of 535-kilometers.
Read More: Chinese private firm Galactic Energy launches four satellites from sea
China launches the CERES-1 commercial carrier rocket, sending a group of five satellites into space, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, May 31, 2024. /Courtesy of Galactic Energy
China launches the CERES-1 commercial carrier rocket, sending a group of five satellites into space, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, May 31, 2024. /Courtesy of Galactic Energy
The twilight orbit is a sun-synchronous orbit that allows satellites to realize a continuous solar power supply. The five satellites include two for the in-orbit verification of laser communications within the low Earth orbit (LEO) mega-constellation, two remote sensing satellites for meteorological observations, and a meteorological remote sensing satellite.
(Photographer: Wang Heng)