World's most powerful solid fuel rocket Gravity 1 completes maiden flight

Video from the channel Newsline World about Gravity-1, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 2:30. Language: English. Video type: News.

News piece reproducing a CGTN report on the maiden flight of the Gravity-1, from Chinese start-up OrienSpace. It lifted off on a Thursday at 13:30 Beijing time from a mobile sea platform off Haiyang, in Shandong province, and placed three weather satellites into orbit.

The rocket has three solid stages and four boosters, is 30 m long, weighs about 400 t at liftoff and generates 600 t of thrust. It can carry about 6,500 kg to low orbit or 4,200 kg to a 500 km sun-synchronous orbit, which according to the piece makes it the most powerful solid-fuel launcher in the world.

The company is aiming it at the growing market for internet and remote-sensing constellations, with contracts for hundreds of satellites, and plans to develop reusable rockets. China has more than 400 commercial space companies.