Insider Brief
- Orienspace secured $83.5 million in Series B funding to develop Gravity-2, a reusable rocket with competitive pricing akin to SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
- Gravity-2 aims for a 2025 or 2026 launch, featuring a 60-meter height and capacity for up to 25.6 tons to LEO, powered by nine kerosene engines.
- Post the successful debut of Gravity-1, Orienspace has advanced rapidly in China’s commercial space race, attracting significant orders for satellite launches.
Orienspace, a Chinese space launch company established in 2020, successfully secured $83.5 million in a Series B funding round on January 24. This investment round saw contributions from notable entities such as Liangxi Science and Technology Innovation Industry Fund of Funds, Hongtai Fund, Xin Ding Capital, CMBC International Holdings, Shanhang Capital, and Shenyin & Wanguo Investment. The funds are earmarked for the development of Orienspace’s first liquid propellant rocket, the Gravity-2, which boasts a design for reusability and a significant payload capacity aimed at competitive pricing similar to SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
Gravity-2 is described as a 60-meter-tall rocket with a 4.2-meter diameter, utilizing nine Yuanli-85 kerosene engines for its first stage, complemented by solid boosters. It aims for a payload capacity to low Earth orbit (LEO) of 25.6 tons, 19.1 tons to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), and 7.7 tons to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), with its first launch targeted for 2025 or 2026.
This funding announcement followed the company’s successful debut launch of its all-solid rocket, Gravity-1, demonstrating Orienspace’s rapid progress in the competitive commercial space sector in China. The firm has already garnered significant interest, securing orders for the launch of hundreds of satellites and being considered for several satellite constellations. This development underscores the growing investor confidence in China’s commercial space sector, which has been receiving increasing support from both local governments and the central government as a strategic emerging industry.
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