(Yicai Global) May 13 -- Young Chinese private rocket firm Galactic Energy Aerospace Technology has linked arms with a subsidiary of state-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the main contractor for the country’s space program, to offer satellite launch services to the international market, The Paper reported.

China Volant Industry, the CASIC’s main platform for overseas operations, will help Beijing-based Galactic to open up the commercial satellite launch market in countries along the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ and other areas, the report said.

Using Galactic’s Ceres-1 solid-fueled rocket, the pair plan to be the first to send an international satellite into orbit using a private Chinese aerospace firm, a feat that should be accomplished next year, the report said.

In November last year, Galactic’s first Ceres-1 rocket successfully lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province, sending a 50-kilogram Tianqi-11 satellite into a 500-kilometer-high polar orbit.

Founded in February 2018, Galactic aims to provide global aerospace markets with flexible, fast and economical commercial launch service solutions. So far the firm has raised CNY300 million (USD46.5 million).

Editor: Kim Taylor