China’s Pallas-1 Rocket Nails Maiden Flight

China’s commercial space sector reached a new milestone on Tuesday when Galactic Energy’s Pallas-1 (Zhishenxing-1) medium-lift carrier rocket successfully completed its maiden orbital flight from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The rocket blasted off at 10:00 a.m. Beijing Time, performed normally throughout the flight, and delivered its payload into the designated orbit, with all test objectives met, according to Xinhua News.

A New Chapter for Chinese Commercial Space

The Pallas-1 is a two-stage liquid-propellant rocket independently developed by Galactic Energy, a Beijing-based private space company. Standing 52 meters tall with a core-stage diameter of 3.35 meters, the rocket has a liftoff mass of approximately 283 tonnes and generates 350 tonnes of liftoff thrust. It is designed to carry 5 to 7 tonnes to low Earth orbit, covering the mainstream demand for current LEO constellation deployment missions.

According to China Daily, the Pallas-1 is the 50th type of carrier rocket China has developed and flown, and the 12th private rocket built and used in the country. The company stated that it will use the Pallas-1 to secure orders for large-scale constellation deployment and heavyweight satellite launch services.

Seven Engines, One Mission

The most distinctive feature of the Pallas-1 is its first-stage propulsion system, which employs seven CQ-50 liquid oxygen-kerosene engines arranged in parallel. This makes Galactic Energy the first Chinese private rocket developer to adopt such a seven-engine cluster configuration. The design provides significant fault redundancy—if one engine malfunctions during certain flight phases, the remaining six can support the mission.

The CQ-50 is a pintle-injector engine with deep-throttling capability ranging from 32 percent to 105 percent of rated thrust, along with multiple restart capability. These features are essential for future first-stage recovery operations. The engine has accumulated more than 23,000 seconds of ground firing tests, according to Global Times.

“The seven-engine reusable liquid oxygen-kerosene propulsion system is designed with low-cost and high-frequency launches in mind and is well suited to the growing demand from low-Earth orbit satellite constellation deployment,” said Pang Zhihao, a senior space expert and former researcher at the China Academy of Space Technology.

Designed for Reuse

The Pallas-1 is engineered for repeated use, with a design life of at least 25 flights. The rocket also features an integrated structural and propulsion design, a bipropellant auxiliary propulsion system, and multidimensional aerodynamic load-alleviation technology. It can be fitted with an optional EROS-2 upper stage for greater mission flexibility.

“The rocket is designed to provide commercial satellite customers with an efficient, cost-friendly ‘space express,’” a Galactic Energy executive told Xinhua.

The maiden flight focused on establishing a flight baseline and did not attempt first-stage recovery. Galactic Energy plans to test re-entry control, grid fins, braking and deceleration systems on subsequent flights before attempting a full vertical landing, initially aiming for targeted recovery at sea or on land, as reported by the South China Morning Post.

A Dedicated Launch Facility

The launch used a dedicated Pallas-series launch pad built by Galactic Energy at the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone. The pad’s first phase was completed and put into operation on May 26, 2026, according to Jiemian News. The facility includes a measurement and control center, liquid rocket factory building, propellant storage area, launch platform, and flame trench, and uses a three-level horizontal test-launch mode.

The mission was codenamed “驾青虬兮泛星河” (Riding the Green Dragon Across the Galaxy), as announced by the company in early August, according to ITHome.

Building Momentum in China’s Space Race

The successful debut comes amid accelerating reusable rocket development across China’s commercial space sector. On August 19, LandSpace’s Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket achieved China’s first successful land-based recovery of an orbital-class rocket first stage using landing legs, marking parallel progress along multiple technological pathways.

Galactic Energy’s transition from its small solid-propellant Ceres series to the medium-to-large liquid-propellant Pallas-1 represents a significant strategic shift. As of this launch, the company had completed 22 successful orbital launches and sent 89 commercial satellites into orbit using its Ceres-1 and Ceres-2 rockets, according to Tencent News.

Pang Zhihao noted that Pallas-1’s successful orbital insertion is an important advance for China’s commercial space sector, as a privately developed medium-to-large liquid-propellant carrier rocket has completed its baseline flight verification. The mission signals Galactic Energy’s transition into a market increasingly shaped by medium- and large-sized liquid rockets, reusable launch systems, and the deployment of large low-Earth orbit satellite constellations.

What’s Next

With the maiden flight complete, attention now turns to the next phase of the Pallas-1 program. The company plans to test first-stage atmospheric reentry control, grid-fin operation, braking and deceleration, and targeted recovery at sea or on land before attempting a complete vertical landing. Once those technologies mature, Galactic Energy aims to move toward higher-frequency reuse and commercial operations, focusing on simplifying inspection and refurbishment, lowering reuse costs, and shortening turnaround time between flights.

The Pallas-1 Y2 rocket was scheduled to arrive at the Jiuquan launch site on August 10, creating a rare situation of two Pallas-1 rockets at the same site simultaneously. The Y2 mission is expected to conduct the first-stage recovery test following the successful baseline flight of the Y1.

As China’s commercial space industry continues to mature, with at least 10 companies having initiated IPO processes, the successful maiden flight of the Pallas-1 positions Galactic Energy as a leading contender in the race to provide cost-effective, high-frequency access to orbit. The company’s technical specifications and launch pad details are available on its official website, and the rocket’s technical profile is also documented on Wikipedia.