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Orienspace Gravity-2

2025 FUTURE FLIGHT REUSABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE ORBITAL LAUNCH VEHICLE COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT

History

The Orienspace Gravity-2 is a two-stage, liquid-propellant orbital launch vehicle under development in China. It is designed with a recoverable first stage for reusable missions, while expendable operation provides greater payload capacity.

Orienspace is developing Gravity-2 for heavy commercial launches, including the deployment of large satellite constellations. The company presents the rocket as the liquid-propellant successor to its operational Gravity-1 solid-fuel launch vehicle.

The current design is 70 m tall and uses nine Force-110 engines on its first stage. Orienspace was targeting launch readiness in the fourth quarter of 2026, after an earlier plan for a debut flight in late 2025 was not achieved.

Development

Orienspace was founded in 2020 and established research, manufacturing, integration, testing, and launch facilities at several locations in China. The company initially concentrated on Gravity-1, which completed its first orbital mission in January 2024.

Gravity-2 was originally described as a partially recoverable launcher powered by nine internally developed Yuanli-85 kerosene and liquid-oxygen engines. Earlier published configurations included solid-propellant side boosters and quoted payload capacities higher than those subsequently associated with the revised design.

In July 2025, Orienspace announced a successful hot-fire test of a Gravity-2 first-stage engine. The test included engine-gimbal movements and valve-system evaluations intended to assess the response of the control system. Orienspace did not identify the engine used. Reporting by SpaceNews noted that the test hardware appeared similar to the YF-102 engine rather than the planned Yuanli-85.

By August 2026, the announced propulsion arrangement had changed to nine Force-110 engines. Orienspace also reported a pre-C financing round worth several hundred million yuan. The company stated that the proceeds would support Gravity-2 research, development, and production. At the same time, it began preparations for corporate restructuring associated with a possible future public offering.

The August 2026 program update reported that Gravity-2 was being prepared for a launch attempt in the fourth quarter of 2026. This replaced the previously stated late-2025 debut target. The rocket therefore remained under development and had not yet entered operational service.

Design

Gravity-2 is a two-stage launch vehicle using kerosene and liquid oxygen. The current configuration has a height of 70 m, a core diameter of 4.2 m, and a payload fairing with a diameter of 5.2 m.

The first stage is powered by nine Force-110 engines. It is intended to support recovery and reuse, although the supplied program information does not describe the recovery method, landing system, or planned number of reuses.

Mission performance depends on whether the first stage is recovered or expended. Recovery reserves propellant and reduces payload capacity. Expendable operation uses more of the vehicle's available performance to place heavier payloads into orbit.

Program status

As of August 2026, Gravity-2 remained in development and was targeted for launch readiness during the fourth quarter of 2026. No orbital flight or completed recovery attempt had been reported. The latest development and financing status was described by SpaceNews.

Orienspace is positioning the vehicle for commercial satellite missions and large constellation deployments. The company was also shortlisted in 2026 as one of four commercial firms considered for future launches associated with a Chinese space-station cargo transport system, but this did not constitute an operational contract or operator assignment for Gravity-2.