Posted: Sun, Nov 15, 2020, 12:15 PM ET (1715 GMT)
A Chinese startup carried out its first orbital launch Nov. 7. The Ceres-1 four-stage solid rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 2:12 am EST (0712 GMT) and placed the 50-kilogram Tianqi-11 satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit. The launch was the first by Galactic Energy, one of several nominally private Chinese companies working on small launch vehicles. The company raised a $30 million Series A round earlier in the week, and $43 million since its founding in 2018.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  Spaceflight Now article
•  Xinhua article