Chinese pseudo-company Galactic Energy completes first launch of its Pallas-1 rocket
UPDATE: Subsequent data from the Space Force as well as Galactic Energy’s failure to post any orbital parameters suggests the rocket failed somehow to get its test payload into orbit, or more likely, it was never intended as an orbital launch.
I removing this launch from my 2026 launch totals.
Original post:
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The Chinese pseudo-company Galactic Energy today successfully completed the inaugural launch of its new Pallas-1 rocket, designed as a smaller version of SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
The rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China. No mention was made in China’s state-run press as to where the rocket’s first stage crashed, though as a test flight with no operational payload, it was likely aimed at the same crash zone where the Zhuque-3 rocket lands.
The leaders in the 2026 launch race:
104 SpaceX
56 China
12 Rocket Lab (plus two suborbital HASTE launches)
11 Russia
For the third straight year SpaceX leads the entire world combined in total launches, 104 to 96.
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