Rockets
Gravity-1
Launch statistics
- 3
- Launches (as of July 27, 2026)
- 1
- Successes
- 0
- Failures
- 100.0 %
- Success rate
Gravity-1 (引力一号, Yinli-1) is a solid-propellant expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed, built and operated by the Chinese aerospace company Orienspace. It stands 29.4 metres tall with a core diameter of 2.65 metres, weighs 405 tonnes at lift-off and carries a fairing 4.2 metres across. It can place up to 6,500 kilograms into low Earth orbit or 4,200 kilograms into a 500-kilometre Sun-synchronous orbit, figures aimed squarely at deploying large-scale satellite constellations. Its distinguishing feature is its architecture: seven solid rocket motors in total, four of them side-mounted and ignited on the ground, while the remaining three form the core and are air-lit in sequence. That arrangement makes it the most powerful rocket built entirely from solid motors, and also explains the enormous plumes of smoke that accompany its launches. Gravity-1 is Orienspace's own vehicle, not a configuration derived from another launcher. It operates from a sea platform, a converted barge named Dong Fang Hang Tian Gang, and claims a response time of only five hours between the end of manufacturing and launch. Launch cost is around US$39 million, and Orienspace has signed contracts to launch more than one hundred satellites.
History
A record-breaking debut
Gravity-1's maiden flight took place on 11 January 2024 at 05:30 UTC from a sea launch platform in the Yellow Sea, off Haiyang Port. The mission succeeded and set two marks at once: it made Gravity-1 the world's most powerful solid-fuel carrier rocket and China's most capable commercial launch vehicle built to that date. Large pieces of debris were seen shedding from the vehicle during ascent, a detail that drew observers' attention without compromising the outcome.
The inaugural payload
The first flight carried three Yunyao-1 weather satellites (numbers 18 to 20), built by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, and placed them into a 500-kilometre circular orbit inclined at 50 degrees. They form part of the Yunyao constellation, planned to comprise ninety satellites.
Architecture and economics
The technical approach chases brute power at low cost. The seven solid motors — four side-mounted and ground-lit, three core motors air-lit — deliver a take-off thrust of 600 tonnes. By dispensing with liquid propellants the vehicle can be stored and prepared quickly: Orienspace claims a five-hour turnaround between the end of manufacturing and launch, a figure aimed at responsive-launch customers. The advertised price of around US$39 million places Gravity-1 in the middle segment of the Chinese market.
Subsequent cadence
After the debut, the second flight took almost two years to arrive: it lifted off on 11 October 2025 at 02:20 UTC, again from the Dong Fang Hang Tian Gang barge, carrying the Jilin-1 Kuanfu-02B-07 satellite and two Shutianyuxing spacecraft to Sun-synchronous orbit. The third launch followed on 22 July 2026 at 02:54 UTC with nine satellites aboard, also bound for Sun-synchronous orbit. All three flights to date have succeeded with no failures, a short but clean record for a vehicle that remains active.
Launch timeline
| Date | Launch site | Outcome | Payload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 22, 2026, 2:54 AM | Yellow Sea (launch location 5) | Success | Carried 9 satellites on a share-ride to sun-synchronous orbit: * Dongpo 13 & 14 * Dongpo 17 to 20 * Tianyi 49 (Beiyou-4) * Xiguang-2-01 * Zidingxiang-3 (Kaiyun-3) |
Images