Galactic Energy's kerolox Pallas-1 reaches orbit on maiden flight

(SpaceEnergy) Galactic Energy's Pallas-1 reusable liquid rocket has reached orbit on its maiden flight, providing an initial flight demonstration for its liquid oxygen-kerosene propulsion architecture.

China National Space Administration (CNSA) said Pallas-1 Y1 lifted off from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone at 10:00 Beijing time on 1 September. The vehicle flew normally and achieved the mission's test objectives.

Galactic Energy describes Pallas-1 as a two-stage reusable liquid launch vehicle with a 283t lift-off mass, 350t lift-off thrust and maximum 7t low Earth orbit payload capacity. Its first stage is designed for vertical recovery and up to 25 uses.

The company says the vehicle uses seven-engine parallel propulsion redundancy and reusable liquid oxygen-kerosene engines capable of deep throttling.

Pallas-1's CQ-50 is Galactic Energy's reusable open-cycle liquid oxygen-kerosene engine. The company lists sea-level thrust at 500kN and says the engine supports multiple starts, continuous deep throttling and reuse, using technologies including a pintle injector and 3D-printed components.