Shanghai-made satellites were launched from waters off the city on Sept 16 aboard a Gravity 1 rocket developed by commercial rocket maker Orienspace, shortening the distance between satellite manufacturing and launch sites.

At around 6 am, the rocket lifted off from a launch service ship off the coast of Shanghai and soon placed eight networking satellites for the Spacesail Constellation, or Qianfan Constellation, along with an experimental satellite into their preset orbits.

This mission set national records for both payload weight and orbital altitude for a sea-based launch, carrying more than 3 metric tons of payload to an orbital altitude of 800 kilometers. It also marked the shortest distance yet in China between satellite manufacturing and launch sites.

For this mission, the Shanghai-made satellites were transported directly from local factories to the nearby launch area. Previously, satellites made in Shanghai often had to be transported long distances to launch sites in West China or the southern island province of Hainan.

"Spacesail urgently needs high-capacity, high-frequency, and low-cost launch services," said Peng Haomin, co-founder and vice-president of Orienspace, as commercial rockets increasingly take on missions previously handled mainly by State-owned providers.

Gravity 1 can carry payloads of up to 6.5 tons to low-Earth orbit and 4.2 tons to a 500-km sun-synchronous orbit. It is currently the world's highest-capacity solid-propellant rocket.

The mission flew at full payload capacity, carrying a combination of stacked satellite assemblies and flat-panel satellites and requiring multiple separation events during the flight. The rideshare configuration also helped lower the launch cost per satellite.

Orienspace is also developing Gravity 2, a reusable liquid-fuel rocket with payload capacities of 21.5 tons to low-Earth orbit and 15 tons to a 500-km sun-synchronous orbit.

Capital is also flowing into the sector. Orienspace completed Pre-C and C financing rounds, raising several billion yuan. The Spacesail Constellation now has 256 satellites and is nearing global network deployment while entering commercial operations.

The Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration supported the mission during the fishing season by managing offshore launch controls and coordinating dense commercial and fishing vessel traffic.

Source: Jiefang Daily