From a ship off the coast of Shandong Province China has successfully launched the Gravity-1 rocket, the world's most powerful solid-fuel engine. The rocket developed by the private company Orienspace transported three Earth observation satellitesea a synchronous solar orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometers, as state broadcaster CCTV reported.
With a height of 30 meters, a weight of 405 tons and a thrust of 600 tons, Gravity 1, which launched at 1:30 p.m. local time (5:30 GMT), is the lstrongest solid fuel rocket in the world, in addition to the most powerful developed by a private company of the Asian giant.
The rocket consists of three core stages and four side boosters, all with movable nozzles and solid fuel engines known for their simplicity, reliability and energy boost.
According to the company Gravity 1 has a transport capacity of 6.5 tons to low orbit or 4.2 tons to solar synchronous orbit and is the first and only Chinese private rocket with side boosters. Founded in 2020 by a group of experienced researchers from state-owned space companies, Orienspace is the fifth private Chinese company with its own rocket.
“Gravity 1 is ideal for deploying large groups of satellites or dispatching large spacecraft in emergencies,” Orienspace announced. In recent years, China has seen an increase in the number of private companies engaged in rocket development and launch. This is just another step in the development of the Asian giant's aerospace industry.
In September 2023, Chinese rocket company Galactic Energy became the first Chinese private company to achieve a successful launch a rocket from the sea. China, in turn, conducted a vertical landing test of a missile on a sea platform last April, which laid the foundation for the recovery of the launchers and their subsequent reuse.
Over the past decade, Beijing has invested heavily in its space program, achieving milestones such as successfully landing a probe on the far side of the moon in January 2019, a feat no country had previously achieved.