China's privately-developed commercial rocket sends four satellites into orbit

China's privately-developed commercial Ceres-2 Y3 carrier rocket sent four satellites into the orbit on Saturday morning.

The rocket blasted off at 07:37 Beijing Time on Saturday (2337 GMT on Friday) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, successfully sending the satellites of Guanlan Shiyan, Yunyao-1 28, Zhongbei Daxue-1 and Juntian-1 06A into the planned orbit.

The launch marked the second flight of the Ceres-2 carrier rocket, developed Chinese space firm Galactic Energy (Beijing Galactic Energy Space Technology Co., Ltd.).

CERES-2 is a medium-class solid-fuel carrier rocket designed for flexible, truck-based launches. It has been developed through technological upgrades to CERES-1, and the earlier model has completed 21 launches and delivered 89 satellites into space.

CERES-2 combines solid-fuel propulsion in its first three stages with a liquid-fuel upper stage. The rocket has a liftoff weight of about 100 tons and can carry up to 1.6 tons to a 500-kilometer low-Earth orbit, or 1.3 tons to a Sun-synchronous orbit at the same altitude, according to the official website of the company.

China's privately-developed commercial rocket sends four satellites into orbit

China's privately-developed commercial rocket sends four satellites into orbit

New Zealand's general election began on Saturday, with polls showing a tight race between the governing coalition led by the National Party and the Labor-led opposition.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's National Party, which came to power in the 2023 general election, is seeking a second term, while the Labor Party, led by former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, is aiming to regain power.

The more than 2,300 polling stations opened at 09:00 local time and were scheduled to close at 19:00. Advance voting had already been open since October 26. Each voter casts two ballots — one for a political party and one for a candidate in their electoral district.

Voters are deeply concerned about the cost of living, economic growth, employment and public services. Opinion polls suggest neither of the two major camps is expected to win an absolute majority, meaning smaller parties could play a decisive role in forming the next government.

The Electoral Commission is expected to release preliminary results on Saturday evening, with the official count due on November 27.

Voting begins in New Zealand's general election