China’s privately developed reusable rocket makes maiden flight

China's privately developed reusable PALLAS-1 rocket successfully completed its maiden flight on Tuesday, marking another step in the country's rapidly expanding commercial space program.

The PALLAS-1 Y1 carrier rocket lifted off at 10 am local time (0200GMT) from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The rocket performed normally during the flight and successfully placed its payload into the designated orbit, with all test objectives achieved, Xinhua reported.

Developed independently by Chinese private commercial aerospace company Galactic Energy, PALLAS-1 is a two-stage, medium-lift liquid-fueled carrier rocket designed with first-stage reusability as a key feature.

The rocket measures 52 meters (170 feet) in length, has a core diameter of 3.35 meters (11 feet), and weighs about 283 tons at liftoff, according to Xinhua.

Its first stage is powered by seven Cangqiong-50 liquid oxygen-kerosene engines operating in parallel, generating a combined liftoff thrust of about 350 tons.

PALLAS-1 is designed to carry between 5 and 7 tons of payload into low Earth orbit.

Galactic Energy has said the rocket is intended to provide commercial satellite operators with more efficient and lower-cost launch services, with reusability expected to help reduce launch costs.

Tuesday's maiden flight comes as China steps up investment in its commercial space industry amid growing demand for satellite launches and the deployment of large-scale satellite constellations.