The latest Ceres 1 lifted off at 4:10 a.m. local time from a mobile offshore platform positioned in the Yellow Sea off Shandong province in eastern China, placing its payload into low Earth orbit about 850 kilometers above the planet.
Built by Beijing based satellite operator Guodian Gaoke, the four satellites are part of the Tianqi network, which now totals 41 spacecraft following this launch and is described as providing global coverage for narrowband internet of things services.
According to Galactic Energy, the Tianqi constellation gathers and relays data to support applications in forestry, agriculture, tourism, electric power operations and environmental protection, offering connectivity in remote or otherwise under served regions.
Ceres 1 first flew in November 2020 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, becoming only the second privately developed Chinese orbital class rocket to reach space successfully, following i Space and its SQX 1 vehicle.
The Ceres 1 design stands about 20 meters tall with a core diameter of 1.4 meters and uses solid propellant as its primary energy source, lifting off with a mass of roughly 33 metric tons.
In its standard configuration, Ceres 1 can deliver up to 300 kilograms to a 500 kilometer sun synchronous orbit, either as a single spacecraft or as a cluster of small satellites sharing the available capacity.
The launcher can also transport payloads of around 350 kilograms to circular low Earth orbits at an altitude near 200 kilometers, targeting missions that require lower insertion heights.
To date, the Ceres 1 family has flown 23 times, with 21 missions declared successful, and has deployed a total of 89 commercial satellites for a range of domestic and international customers.
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