HELSINKI — Commercial launch firm Orienspace launched its third Gravity-1 solid rocket late Tuesday, sending nine satellites into orbit from waters off Shanghai.
The 30-meter-long Gravity-1 solid rocket lifted off at 10:54 p.m. Eastern, July 21 (0254 UTC, July 22) from a launch service ship in waters near Shanghai in the East China Sea. The mission was the first long-range sea launch for Orienspace, having earlier launched closer to sea launch facilities at Haiyang, Shandong province.
The launch carried nine payloads, according to Orienspace, including six Dongpo satellites for the Huantian constellation. These were Dongpo-13, 14 and 17-20, also featuring sponsored names. Two are optical satellites equipped with AI payloads for onboard target recognition, intelligent analysis and faster processing, and four synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites with formation flying to provide millimeter-level surface deformation monitoring. MinoSpace produced the satellites, as part of a $111 million contract awarded in 2025.
Also aboard the flight were Xiguang-2 (01), a hyperspectral satellite developed by Xi’an CAS Xiguang Aerospace Technology Group, Tianyi-49 from Spacety, and Zidingxiang-3 (Lilac-3), an ultra-flat disk satellite from the Harbin Institute of Technology and Beijing Taikonlink Technology.
Orienspace is also aiming to have its Gravity-2 two-stage reusable liquid propellant launcher ready for launch in Q4, according to fresh reports, having previously targeted a debut launch in late 2025.
Oceanography, Qianfan constellation launches
The launch was the first since the debut flight July 10 of the Long March 10B rocket which included China’s first successful first stage recovery attempt. Preceding this were three launches in early July.
A Long March 4B launched the Haiyang-2E oceanography satellite at 7:46 p.m. Eastern (2346 UTC) July 1 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The 1,500 kg satellite carries radiometers, a laser retroflector array, scatterometer and radar altimeter and will observe ocean dynamic variables. Haiyang-2E replaces the Haiyang-2B satellite launched in 2018.
Following this, China launched two separate batches of satellites for the Shanghai-backed Qianfan megaconstellation. A Long March 6A lifted off at 5:30 a.m. Eastern (0930 UTC) July 4 from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, carrying 18 polar Qianfan satellites into orbit. Just over a day later, at 9:43 a.m. Eastern (1343 UTC) July 5, a Long March 8A lifted off from Hainan commercial spaceport near Wenchang, carrying 20 more polar Qianfan satellites. The launches take the number of Qianfan satellites in orbit to 238, not including a test satellite launched via a Zhuque-2E in June.
Launch record, Chang’e-7 set for liftoff
The Gravity-1 launch was China’s 49th orbital launch attempt of 2026, including three failures; two of which were the debut flights of the Ceres-2 solid rocket and the Tianlong-3. Further Long March 3B, Kinetica-1 and Long March 8A launches are currently scheduled across July 23-24.
Meanwhile, the Long March 5 rocket to launch the Chang’e-7 lunar south pole landing mission arrived at Wenchang July 13. Navigational warnings indicate a launch window opening at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Aug. 23 (0000 UTC, Aug. 24). China appears set to launch more than 100 times in 2026, which would eclipse its national record of 92 launches set in 2025.