Featured image credit: OrienSpace
Liftoff Time | January 11, 2024 – 05:30 UTC | 13:30 BJT |
|---|---|
Mission Name | Maiden flight |
Launch Provider | OrienSpace |
Customer | Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology |
Rocket | Gravity-1 (Yinli-1) |
Launch Location | DeFu-15002 Barge, China Coastal Waters |
Payload mass | Unknown |
Where are the satellites(s) going? | 479 x 498 km low-Earth orbit, inclined 49.99 degrees |
Will they be attempting to recover the first stage? | No |
Where will the first stage land? | The stage will splash down in the Pacific Ocean |
Will they be attempting to recover the fairings? | No |
Are these fairings new? | Yes |
This will be the: | – 1st launch of the Gravity-1 rocket – 9th orbital launch attempt of 2024 |
Where to watch | Livestream |
What Does All This Mean?
OrienSpace aims to demonstrate the technical feasibility and commercial viability of its launch vehicle and sea launch platform on this mission — the rocket’s maiden flight. This mission aims to provide the company with valuable data and feedback for the development of the company’s next-generation rocket, Gravity-2. This mission will place three Chinese meteorological satellites into low-Earth orbit.
How Did It Go?
This mission was fully successful; the payloads were placed into the correct orbit.
Mission
OrienSpace’s first mission will carry three Yunyao-1 meteorological satellites into low-Earth orbit. These satellites are built by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology and will be used for atmospheric observation and other scientific experiments. In the future, this constellation will be 90 satellites strong.
Rocket
The Gravity-1 rocket is an all-solid launch vehicle developed and operated by the Chinese commercial aerospace company OrienSpace. The rocket comprises three stages and four side boosters and stands 42 meters tall with a diameter of 3.35 meters. The 260-tonne vehicle can place 6.5 tonnes into a low-Earth orbit and 4.2 tonnes into a high-inclination Sun-synchronous orbit.
Being the most powerful all-solid launch vehicle, Gravity-1 will lift off with 5,880 kN of thrust from the DeFu-15002 barge, which will be stationed in the East China Sea. Stage one consists of four large strap-on solid rocket boosters. Stage two uses the same booster but with a nozzle optimized for the lower pressure during this portion of the flight. Stage three has a shorter version of this motor (and therefore is less powerful), and stage four has an even smaller solid motor. In the future, an upgraded version of the vehicle (Gravity-1A) will replace the stage four motor with a small liquid-fueled stage. Even further down the line, the Gravity-2 rocket will be a Falcon 9-size liquid-fueled launch vehicle.
The payload fairing has a diameter of 4.2 meters.
OrienSpace was founded in 2020 and has only raised around $150 million throughout four rounds of financing. This is a remarkable speed for the development of a launch vehicle.
Its payloads have now been released.They are three remote sensing satellites: 吉林一号高分05A01 (廊坊空间一号), 吉林一号高分05A02(三峡遥感一号) and 吉林一号高分05A03. Chinese aerospace enthusiasts really like this KSP -style rocket!