THE NEW SPACE RACE: China’s Galactic Energy Startup Takes on SpaceX with First Sea Launch.

Galactic Energy has carried out the first sea-based rocket launch by a private Chinese company, just two days after Elon Musk boasted that his firm SpaceX was sending far more rockets into space than China.

Chinese media touted Tuesday’s launch of the sea-borne variant of the CERES 1 carrier rocket from a modified submersible ship in the Yellow Sea, off the coast of East China’s Shandong province.

The launch meant that the CERES 1 became the third Chinese rocket model, and the first produced by a private company, able to make lift-off both on land and at sea.

Galactic Energy was founded in early 2018 by former workers of the state-owned China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). In November 2020, it became the second private Chinese launch firm to place a satellite in orbit.

Tuesday saw Galactic Energy’s ninth consecutive successful orbital launch, which Chinese media said surpassed the country’s other private competitors.

Stay tuned.