Orienspace Gravity-1 launches nine satellites from sea

(SpaceEnergy) Chinese launch company Orienspace’s Gravity-1 solid-propellant rocket has deployed nine satellites into an approximately 800km orbit during a sea launch in the East China Sea.

Gravity-1 lifted off at 06:00 Beijing time on 16 September carrying eight Qianfan broadband constellation spacecraft and one EUHT technology demonstration satellite. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology confirmed that the Qianfan spacecraft reached their planned orbit.

The mission was Gravity-1’s fourth flight and Orienspace’s first launch dedicated to large-scale deployment of a low-Earth-orbit broadband constellation. The payload exceeded 3 tonnes, according to official provincial-government reporting.

Orienspace describes Gravity-1 as a three-and-a-half-stage launcher using a solid-propellant core and four solid boosters. The company gives the vehicle a 405-tonne lift-off mass, 600-tonne lift-off thrust and capacity of up to 6.5 tonnes to low Earth orbit or 4.2 tonnes to a 500km Sun-synchronous orbit.

Orienspace is separately developing the reusable liquid-propellant Gravity-2 launcher and its Force-110 liquid oxygen-kerosene engine.