China's Galactic Energy Breaks Ground on Base for 24 Reusable Liquid Rockets Annually

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 10, Galactic Energy commenced construction of an industrialization base capable of producing 24 reusable liquid launch vehicles annually in the Wanjiang Jiangnan Emerging Industry Concentration Zone, Chizhou City, Anhui Province, China. The project is implemented by Anhui Galactic Energy Equipment Technology Co., Ltd., with a total investment of 1.5 billion yuan.

The project primarily involves the construction of a reusable rocket engine technology R&D center, a second-phase liquid rocket final assembly line, a second-phase Cangqiong engine final assembly line, a reusable rocket propulsion system test stand, a reusable engine turbopump hydraulic test stand, and an aerospace science education base. The scope covers engine R&D, engine and full-vehicle final assembly, and ground testing of propulsion systems.

Anhui Galactic Energy settled in the Wanjiang Jiangnan Emerging Industry Concentration Zone in 2020, and its existing base already has the capacity to produce 10 liquid rockets and 100 rocket engines annually. In 2023, the first Zhishenxing-1 liquid launch vehicle assembled in Chizhou completed final assembly and rolled off the production line. The project now underway will build a second-phase final assembly line along with supporting R&D and testing facilities, raising planned production capacity to 24 liquid rockets per year.

Zhishenxing-1 is a two-stage reusable liquid launch vehicle independently developed by Galactic Energy. It uses liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants, has a liftoff mass of approximately 283 tons, and a maximum low Earth orbit payload capacity of 7 tons. The first stage is equipped with seven Cangqiong-50 engines, supports vertical recovery, and is designed for no fewer than 25 reuse cycles, primarily targeting large satellite launches and low Earth orbit satellite constellation deployment missions.

The Cangqiong-50 engine delivers a sea-level thrust of 500 kilonewtons and features deep throttling and multiple restart capabilities. In September 2025, the second-stage propulsion system of Zhishenxing-1 completed a full mission profile hot-fire test; in November of the same year, the first-stage seven-engine parallel propulsion system completed a sea-level hot-fire test, verifying functions including ignition, shutdown, coordinated gimbaling of the seven engines, and propulsion system fault diagnosis, thereby completing all major ground tests for Zhishenxing-1.

Galactic Energy disclosed in August 2026 that the Zhishenxing-1 Y1 rocket will carry out its first commercial launch at an opportune time in the near future. The maiden flight will primarily verify the overall flight performance of the vehicle, while subsequent missions will progressively conduct first-stage reentry, guidance and control, and recovery tests.

According to the plan, once the new base is completed and reaches full production capacity, it will form an annual production capacity of 24 reusable liquid launch vehicles, with an expected annual output value of 1.2 billion yuan and tax revenue of 50 million yuan.