BEIJING: The Gravity-1 launch vehicle developed by ORIENSPACE blasted off at 10:54 am on Wednesday from the East China Sea, sending nine satellites into their preset orbits while simultaneously conducting one payload experiment, marking the first far-sea launch of a private commercial rocket, the Global Times learned.
The Gravity-1 launch vehicle lifted off from a launch vessel operated by the Oriental Aerospace Port in Haiyang, Yantai, East China’s Shandong Province, the country’s sole commercial maritime launch base and the location where the rocket was assembled. According to the Xinhua News Agency, the launch was conducted under the direction of the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.
The mission marked the third sea-based, yet the first far-sea launch of the Gravity-1 launch vehicle, per media reports.
The mission primarily tested Gravity-1’s ability to operate under far-sea conditions, and validated the adaptability of the rocket’s solid-propellant booster configuration to complex sea conditions, as well as its ability to remain in a launch-ready state for an extended period before liftoff, according to press releases provided to the Global Times by the Haiyang aerospace industry development center on Wednesday.
Gravity-1 is the world’s first medium-lift launch vehicle with strap-on boosters that are all powered by solid propellant motors. This 30-meter launch vehicle has a mass of 405 tons and liftoff thrust of 600 tons. Its payload to low earth orbit is 6.5 tons, and its payload to 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit is 4.2 tons.
The payload consisted of Dongpo-13, Dongpo-14, Dongpo-17 through -20, Xiguang-2 01, Tianyi-49 and Lilac-3, nine satellites in total, Xinhua reported.
The six Dongpo-series satellites consist of two optical satellites and four synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites. After entering orbit, they will join four Dongpo satellites already in operation to form an integrated constellation, improving data acquisition efficiency and spatial coverage while supporting remote-sensing applications in Southwest China across areas including land surveying and mapping, emergency response and disaster relief, agriculture, forestry, and water resources management, according to the Science and Technology Daily.
The Xiguang-2 01 and Tianyi-49 satellites are designed to integrate artificial intelligence, commercial space technology, and quantitative remote sensing, providing Earth observation services for clients in mineral exploration, agriculture and forestry, environmental monitoring, and urban planning sectors, per Haiyang aerospace industry development center.
Developed by Xiopm SPACE, Xiguang-2 01 is the company’s first AI computing satellite integrating hyperspectral quantitative remote sensing with real-time onboard intelligent data processing. It breaks away from the traditional model of transmitting remote-sensing data to ground stations for processing by performing data acquisition, processing and decision-making directly in orbit, according to an article from the company’s WeChat account.
The satellite is the first in China to combine quantitative remote sensing with real-time response capability, marking a major advance in onboard hyperspectral remote-sensing data processing.
Meanwhile, Lilac-3 will conduct in-orbit technology demonstrations of an ultra-flat satellite platform integrating structural and thermal-control functions, and next-generation attitude control technologies.
The mission also marked another major step toward strengthening China’s coordinated multi-site sea-launch system across offshore regions. Additionally, it further validated the country’s capability to support cross-sea, long-range launch operations, as well as its nationwide operational flexibility to select launch sites based on the specific requirements of rocket developers, per the release. –The Daily Mail-Global Times news exchange item
