Pallas-1 by Galactic Energy: status and timeline

Pallas-1

Reduce launch costs by recovering and reusing the first stage, enabling frequent, low-cost access to medium-lift orbital capacity.

DeployStage 4 of 5

Maiden flight successful on September 1, 2026; reached orbit with 5–7 tonnes.

Updated 1 Sep 2026Checked 11 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

No announced next step

Maiden flight from Jiuquan1 Sep 2026Complete.
Reached low Earth orbit on debut1 Sep 2026Complete.

Most important, last 3 months

Pallas-1 reaches orbit on maiden flight from Jiuquan, carrying payload to low Earth orbit1 Sep 2026

Current obstacles

Proving first-stage recovery reliabilityThe debut flight succeeded, but repeated recovery and rapid reuse need demonstration.

Physics limits

Chemical rocket limitsRP-1/liquid-oxygen rockets are well-understood but not the highest energy-density propellant; gains must come from reuse, not raw performance.

How it works

3 parts

First stage

Recoverable with landing legs

Seven Welkin engines burn RP-1 and liquid oxygen. After burnout, landing legs and grid fins guide a controlled descent for reuse.

Upper stages

Expendable upper stages

The second and third stages are expendable, carrying the payload to final orbit.

Reuse

Cost reduction through recovery

Recovering and refurbishing the first stage reduces per-launch costs compared to fully expendable rockets.

Spec sheet

Spec	Pallas-1
Height	42 m^R (reported)
Gross mass	220,000 kg^R (reported)
Payload to 400 km LEO	5,000 kg^R (reported)
Payload to 700 km sun-synchronous orbit	3,000 kg^R (reported)
Booster core diameter	3.35 m^R (reported)
Welkin engines per stage	7 on first stage^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

1 update

Tue 1 Sep

Major: Pallas-1 reaches orbit on maiden flight from Jiuquan, carrying payload to low Earth orbitPressHardware

About Galactic Energy

The team behind Pallas-1

Galactic Energy

Ceres-1, Pallas-1 reusable rockets

Galactic Energy is a Chinese commercial aerospace company developing reusable launch vehicles. Ceres-1 is its established four-stage solid/liquid rocket; Pallas-1, a kerosene-fueled medium-lift design with a recoverable first stage, reached orbit on its debut in September 2026.

Galactic Energy became China's second private company to reach orbit in November 2020 with Ceres-1.
Pallas-1 debuted on September 1, 2026, delivering 5–7 tonnes to low Earth orbit with a reusable first stage.
The company raised $200 million in January 2022 for reusable launch development.

Company profile →

Founded: 20188 yrs
Headquarters: China
Status: Private
Valuation: private
Raised: $200M1 round
Last round: Funding for reusable launch development · $200MJan 2022
Works in: SpaceflightLaunch
Coverage: 2 programs · 3 updateslatest 1 Sep 2026checked 11 Oct
People: Liu BaiqiCo-founderXia DongkunCo-founder

Spec

Pallas-1

Height

42 m^R (reported)

Gross mass

220,000 kg^R (reported)

Payload to 400 km LEO

5,000 kg^R (reported)

Payload to 700 km sun-synchronous orbit

3,000 kg^R (reported)

Booster core diameter

3.35 m^R (reported)

Welkin engines per stage

7 on first stage^R (reported)