Private firm launches world's mightiest solid-fueled rocket

The Gravity 1 rocket model features three core stages and four boosters, all powered by solid-propellant engine and equipped with flexible swinging nozzles.

With a liftoff weight of 405 metric tons and a thrust of 600 tons, the rocket can carry a spacecraft weighing up to 6.5 tons to a low-Earth orbit, or 4.2 tons to a typical sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometers, according to Orienspace, which was founded in 2020 by a group of veteran researchers from State-owned space enterprises.

Since its debut, Gravity 1 has become the world's mightiest solid-fueled launch vehicle and also the most powerful private rocket in China.

Its liftoff weight and thrust surpass those of the European Space Agency's Vega-C, previously the world's most powerful solid-propellant rocket.

In addition, Gravity 1 is the first and currently the only private rocket in China that has side boosters and the largest fairing, or nose cone — the top structure on a rocket that contains satellites or other payloads.