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| Orienspace | |
Native name | 东方空间（山东）科技有限公司 |
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | June 9, 2020 |
| Headquarters | , China |
| Website | www |
Orienspace Technology (Shandong) Co., Ltd (Orienspace for short) is a commercial aerospace enterprise in China founded in 2020. The company designs and manufactures Gravity Series launch vehicles and Force Series rocket engines.
Orienspace is headquartered in Shandong Province, where an assembly, integration and test center is being built for future activities. [1]
The company also established an R&D center in Beijing Office and a headquarters of aerospace propulsion technology in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. [2]
As of October 2023, Orienspace has raised four rounds of financing, totaling over 150 million USD. [3]
In January 2024, Orienspace Secures 600 Million Yuan Funding for Rocket Development Amid Soaring Demand in China [4]
Gravity-1 is a solid-propellant medium-lift launch vehicle that can carry a payload of up to 6.5 tons to LEO or 4.2 tons to SSO, enabling the deployment of large-scale satellite constellations. Its maiden flight was conducted on 11 January 2024, breaking records as both the world's largest solid-fuel carrier rocket and China's most powerful commercial launch vehicle to date. [5]
Gravity-2, a partially recoverable heavy-lift launch vehicle, is expected to debut in 2025. It will be a 60-meter-tall heavy-lift rocket with a liquid-fuel core stage and solid boosters. The core stage will be powered by nine Yuanli-85 engines, which are gas-generator cycle kerosene engines with a thrust of 100 tons each. Gravity-2 will be able to deliver 25.6 tons of payload to LEO, 19.1 tons to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), or 7.7 tons to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). [5] It will also be partially recoverable and support missions to higher orbits such as MEO and LTO.
Gravity-3 is a planned variant of Gravity-2 that will use three Gravity-2 core stages. It will have a payload capacity of 30.6 tons to LEO, 20.5 tons to SSO, 9.6 tons to GTO, and 8 tons to LTO. [5] It will enable large-scale satellite constellation deployment and lunar exploration.
| Serial number | Launch Vehicle | Flight number | Date (UTC) | Launch site | Payload | Orbit | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gravity-1 | Y1 | 11 January 2024 05:30 UTC | Special converted barge (Dong Fang Hang Tian Gang) Offshore waters of Haiyang Port | Yunyao-1 18-20 weather satellites | LEO (50° inclination, 500km circular) | Success [5] |
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Gravity-1 is a solid-propellant expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed, manufactured and launched by Chinese aerospace company Orienspace. It can carry a payload of up to 6.5 tonnes (14,000 lb) to LEO or 4.2 tonnes (9,300 lb) to SSO, enabling the deployment of large-scale satellite constellations. The rocket has a height of 30 meters, a take-off weight of 400 tonnes, a take-off thrust of 600 tonnes, and a fairing diameter of 4.2 meters. Its maiden launch was conducted from a sea launch platform in the Yellow Sea on January 11, 2024, breaking records as both the world's most powerful solid-fuel carrier rocket and China's most powerful commercial launch vehicle to date. Large pieces of debris were seen during the launch, which carried 3 Yunyao-1 meteorological satellites built by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, as part of the planned 90-satellite Yunyao constellation.
