China's Gravity 1: The Space Race Game Changer!
Video from the channel Treasure Of World 🌎 about Gravity-1, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 12:13. Language: English. Video type: News.
What it covers
The video reviews the second flight of the Gravity-1 rocket, mission Y2, launched on 11 October 2025 at 10:20 Beijing time from a barge off Haiyang, in Shandong province, under the oversight of the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The main payload was the Jilin-1 Wideband 02B07 optical observation satellite, with 0.5 m resolution and a 150 km swath, accompanied by two small experimental satellites.
Background
The Gravity-1 is built by Orienspace, a private company founded in 2020 by engineers from China's state programmes, including the Long March programme. It measures 30 m, weighs 405 t at liftoff and produces 600 t of thrust. It has a core stage and four strap-on boosters, all solid-fuelled and fitted with steerable nozzles. It can carry 6.5 t to low Earth orbit or 4.2 t to a 500 km sun-synchronous orbit, which according to the video makes it the most powerful solid-fuel rocket in the world, ahead of the European Vega-C. Its maiden flight took place in January 2024.
What it means
The narrator stresses that solid fuel allows the rocket to be stored ready for launch and prepared in about 24 hours, a rapid-response capability linked to replenishing satellites in a crisis. He also mentions Orienspace's Series B funding round, of up to 124 million dollars in August 2025, and the plan to test the reusable, liquid-fuelled Gravity-2 before the end of 2025. Much of the piece is devoted to strategic and geopolitical considerations.