Pallas-1 is a medium-lift orbital rocket being developed by the Chinese commercial space company Galactic Energy. It is designed as a two-stage liquid-fueled launch vehicle, with an optional Eros upper stage for certain missions. The rocket has a body diameter of 3.35 meters, a fairing diameter of 4.2 meters, a liftoff mass of about 283 metric tons, and approximately 3,430 kN (350 metric tons-force) of liftoff thrust. Galactic Energy states that Pallas-1 can carry up to 7 metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO) when equipped with the optional upper stage.

The first stage is powered by seven CQ-50 liquid oxygen/kerosene engines operating in parallel. The CQ-50 is a reusable, variable-thrust engine developed by Galactic Energy, with about 50 tons of thrust per engine. Galactic Energy has conducted ground testing of the engines, including a seven-engine combined test.

Pallas-1 is designed to be partially reusable, with the first stage intended to perform a propulsive vertical landing. Galactic Energy gives the first stage a designed reuse count of up to 25 flights. The rocket incorporates technologies including deep engine throttling, reusable LOX/kerosene propulsion, and guidance and control systems for vertical recovery.

The rocket is being developed primarily for commercial satellite launches and large satellite constellations. Its development is part of Galactic Energy's effort to expand beyond its smaller Ceres rocket family and offer a heavier launch vehicle.

As of August 30, 2026, Pallas-1 has not yet made its first flight. Its maiden test flight is scheduled for the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China, with current launch information pointing to a window beginning on August 31/September 1, 2026. The first flight is expected to be a test mission, and no first-stage recovery attempt is planned for the debut flight.

Courtesy of Galactic Energy.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is a Chinese space vehicle launch facility (spaceport) located in the Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia. It is part of the Dongfeng Aerospace City (Base 10). Although the facility is geographically located within Ejin Banner of Inner Mongolia's Alxa League, it is named after the nearest city, Jiuquan in Gansu Province. The launch center straddles both sides of the Ruo Shui river.

It was founded in 1958, the first of China's four spaceports. As with all Chinese launch facilities, it is remote and generally closed to foreigners.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is usually used to launch vehicles into lower and medium orbits with large orbital inclination angles, as well as testing medium to long-range missiles. Its facilities are state of the art and provide support to every phase of a satellite launch campaign. The site includes the Technical Center, the Launch Complex, the Launch Control Center, the Mission Command and Control Center and various other logistical support systems.

The center covers 2800 km (1739.8 miles) and may have housing for as many as 20,000 people. The facilities and launch support equipment were likely modelled on Soviet counterparts and the Soviet Union likely provided technical support to Jiuquan.

The launch center has been the focus of many of China's ventures into space, including their first satellite Dong Fang Hong I in 1970, and their first crewed space mission, Shenzhou 5 on 15 October 2003. As of 2021, all Chinese crewed space flights, meaning all flights in the Shenzhou program including crewed flights to the Tiangong space station, have launched from Jiuquan.

In August 2016, China launched the first quantum communication satellite, the "Quantum Experiments at Space Scale", from the center.

In August 2018, Chinese private rocket manufacturing startups i-Space and OneSpace launched sub-orbital rockets from the center. On July 25, 2019, the first Chinese private orbital launch took place from Jiuquan as I-Space launched their Hyperbola-1 rocket.