At 10:00 on September 1, the Pallas-1 Y1 carrier rocket ignited and lifted off at the Jiuquan Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Area, smoothly entering its pre-set orbit. The mission was a complete success. This is the first liquid oxygen/kerosene carrier rocket manufactured in Anhui, with its final assembly and testing completed in Chizhou City. Its eight engines — seven for the first stage and one for the second stage — all underwent ground tests at the Niutoushan Test Stand in Chizhou before delivery.

Pallas-1 features a two-stage configuration. Standing roughly 52 meters long with a core diameter of 3.35 meters, it has a liftoff mass of about 283 tonnes and a liftoff thrust of approximately 350 tonnes. It boasts a 7-tonne payload capacity to low Earth orbit (LEO), and can optionally be fitted with the Eros-2 upper stage. Per design specifications, the rocket can continue its flight even if one of the seven first-stage engines shuts down. The first stage is engineered for no fewer than 25 reuses.

Anhui Galactic Energy Equipment Technology Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary and liquid rocket manufacturing base of Beijing-headquartered Galactic Energy Aerospace in Chizhou. Settled in the Wanjiang Jiangnan Emerging Industries Cluster Zone at the end of 2019, it kickstarted Chizhou’s commercial space industry.

The rocket rolled out after final assembly in Chizhou on May 17, 2023. It departed Chizhou for Jiuquan on January 7, 2026. On August 10, Phase II of Galactic Energy’s Industrialization Base for Reusable Liquid Carrier Rockets broke ground in the cluster zone. With a total investment of 1.5 billion yuan, the base will achieve an annual output capacity of 24 rockets once fully operational.

To date, Galactic Energy Aerospace has conducted 22 orbital launches, sending 89 commercial satellites into designated orbits. Twenty-three upstream and downstream enterprises have settled in the cluster zone. A distinctive industrial chain centered on rocket manufacturing and covering satellite payloads and aerospace materials has taken initial shape locally. Under the plan, the zone aims to incubate and attract 40 key enterprises by 2028 and build a 10-billion-yuan industrial cluster.

Source: Anhui Daily