Galactic Energy's Ceres-1 Y-19 failed to reach orbit on Nov. 10 after an early shutdown of its fourth stage. The 62-foot launcher carried two Jilin-1 observation satellites and an experimental Zhongbei University craft; the first three stages performed normally. This incident was reported as the second failure in 22 Ceres-1 missions. Galactic apologized and said it will refine rocket design and quality-management systems.
Fourth-Stage Cutoff Dooms Galactic Energy’s Ceres-1 Y-19; Jilin-1 Satellites Miss Orbit
Galactic Energy's Ceres-1 Y-19 failed to reach orbit on Nov. 10 after an early shutdown of its fourth stage. The 62-foot launcher carried two Jilin-1 observation satellites and an experimental Zhongbei University craft; the first three stages performed normally. This incident was reported as the second failure in 22 Ceres-1 missions. Galactic apologized and said it will refine rocket design and quality-management systems.
08:38 AM, 11/11/2025Technology
Galactic Energy's Ceres-1 Y-19 fails to reach orbit after fourth-stage shutdown
On Nov. 10, Galactic Energy's Ceres-1 Y-19 rocket launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at about 11:02 p.m. EST, but failed to place its payload into orbit after a premature shutdown of the vehicle's fourth stage.
The 62-foot launcher carried two Jilin-1 commercial Earth-observation satellites and an experimental spacecraft developed by Zhongbei University intended for low-Earth orbit deployment. Galactic Energy said the rocket's first three stages and their separations performed as expected.
However, the fourth stage burned for more than 500 seconds before shutting down early, preventing the payloads from reaching orbital velocity.
“We offer our sincerest apologies to the mission's customer and to everyone who supports Galactic Energy,” the Beijing-based company said in a statement. Galactic added it will draw lessons from the setback and continue to optimize rocket design and quality-management systems.
Ceres-1 made its debut in November 2020. This flight was reported as the second failure in 22 Ceres-1 missions. Galactic Energy — one of China’s leading private launch firms — has completed roughly 22 successful launches overall and says it has deployed about 85 satellites for 27 commercial clients.
The launch failure coincided with a delay in the return of the Shenzhou 20 crew from China’s Tiangong space station, a separate matter that Chinese space officials postponed.
What happens next: Galactic Energy will investigate the cause of the early fourth-stage shutdown, review telemetry and hardware, and implement corrective actions to improve reliability for future Ceres-1 missions.