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.
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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 |
Background
editOrienspace 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]
Product lineup
editGravity-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.
List of launches
edit| 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] |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Chinese Rocket Newbie Orien Space Bags USD47.3 Million in Pre-A Round". www.yicaiglobal.com. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ "China's OrienSpace could be valued at $823 million in new fundraising -sources". Reuters. 22 August 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ Jones, Andrew (13 February 2022). "A new Chinese rocket company has raised more than $100 million". Space.com. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ "Orienspace Secures 600 Million Yuan Funding for Rocket Development Amid Soaring Demand in China". ibmot. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ a b c d Jones, Andrew (11 January 2024). "Orienspace breaks Chinese commercial launch records with Gravity-1 solid rocket". SpaceNews. Retrieved 11 January 2024.