JAKARTA - Orienspace launched the Gravity 1 rocket from the East China Sea on Wednesday morning. The mission was China's first private rocket launch from the region and the closest to Shanghai so far.
China Daily, quoted Wednesday, July 22, reported that the 30-meter-tall rocket took off at 10.54 local time from a launch ship off the coast of Shanghai.
Gravity 1 carried nine satellites and one experimental device. The rocket placed all its payload on a predetermined orbit.
Prior to the mission, only one rocket launch was carried out from the East China Sea. In April 2022, the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp used the Long March 11 to send five Earth observation satellites.
Gravity 1 consists of three main levels and four additional thrusters. All of them use solid fuel engines and movable nozzles to regulate the direction of the thrust.
China Daily called Gravity 1 the largest and most powerful solid-fuel launch vehicle in the world. The rocket is also said to be the most powerful among China's private rockets.
The first flight of Gravity 1 took place from the Yellow Sea in January 2024. The rocket was launched from a ship off the coast of Haiyang, Shandong Province.
The launch makes Orienspace the fifth Chinese private company to have its own launch vehicle. The previous four companies are i-Space, Galactic Energy, Space Pioneer, and LandSpace.
The second Gravity 1 flight took place in October 2025 from the same location in the Yellow Sea.
According to its designers, Gravity 1 is capable of carrying up to 30 light satellites in a single flight. The rocket can also transport large-sized satellites or small cargo vehicles into orbit.
Orienspace has built production, assembly, and testing facilities in Haiyang. The location makes it easier for the company to move rockets to launch ships.
Six of the nine satellites in the latest mission were developed by Beijing MinoSpace Technology together with Huantian Wisdom, a state-owned satellite operator in Sichuan Province.
The six satellites will work together with two optical satellites and two synthetic aperture radar satellites that have been launched earlier.
Synthetic aperture radar is a radar system for mapping the Earth's surface.
All of the satellites will form a constellation consisting of four optical satellites and six radar satellites. The constellation is intended to expand the scope of data collection.
According to Beijing MinoSpace Technology, the constellation is projected to support the needs of remote sensing data in southwest China.
The data will be used for surveys and mapping, disaster management, agriculture, forestry, and water resources management.
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