Chinese CERES-2 Rocket Crash: Launch Failure News
- The inaugural launch of the Chinese CERES-2 rocket resulted in a failure,according to reports from China Daily and Focus on January 17,2026.
- The CERES-2 is a new solid-fuel launch vehicle developed by the private Chinese company, Galactic Energy, also known as Ceres.Space.com reports the rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan...
- Galactic Energy intended the launch to place the Jilin-1 Gaofen 03D satellite into orbit.
Chinese CERES-2 Rocket Fails on First Launch
The inaugural launch of the Chinese CERES-2 rocket resulted in a failure,according to reports from China Daily and Focus on January 17,2026.
The CERES-2 is a new solid-fuel launch vehicle developed by the private Chinese company, Galactic Energy, also known as Ceres.Space.com reports the rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province at 1:38 PM Beijing Time (0538 GMT).
Galactic Energy intended the launch to place the Jilin-1 Gaofen 03D satellite into orbit. The satellite was developed by chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd.NASA Spaceflight details that the rocket experienced an anomaly during flight, leading to its failure.
This launch marked the second attempt by Galactic Energy to reach orbit wiht the CERES-2. The first attempt, scheduled for December 2023, was postponed due to unspecified reasons.The CERES-2 is designed to deliver payloads of up to 300 kilograms (661 pounds) to sun-synchronous orbit. SpaceNews notes this failure is a setback for China’s growing private space sector.