Gravity II recoverable liquid launch vehicle plans to make its maiden flight in 2025
CTOnews.com, November 27, 2023 China (Wenchang) Commercial Aerospace Summit Forum was held in Wenchang. Oriental Space and Hainan Wenchang International Space City officially signed a carrier rocket launch and recycling Hainan base project to conduct in-depth cooperation around the launch and recovery of the "Gravity II" recyclable liquid carrier rocket to serve the networking of large constellations and the launch needs of high-orbit rockets.
CTOnews.com noted that Oriental Space will build a Hainan base for launch and recovery of carrier rockets. The project is located in the Rocket Industry Park of Wenchang International Space City, and construction is expected to start in 2024.
The base will focus on the construction of a rocket launch technology preparation plant and a rocket recovery and testing plant, which will be used for rocket state detection, system testing, overall testing, satellite and arrow docking before rocket launch, as well as sub-stage rocket cleaning, instrument and equipment inspection and replacement, test and testing after recovery.
Gravity 2 has a takeoff weight of 927t, a takeoff thrust of 1420 t, a low-earth orbit carrying capacity of 25.6t, a 500km sun-synchronous orbit capacity of 19.1t and a geosynchronous transfer orbit of 7.7t. It is scheduled to fly for the first time in 2025.
Gravity-2 is located at the requirements of large-scale networking of medium and large satellites and commercial high-orbit launch. It is a medium-and large-scale carrier rocket characterized by extreme cost performance / high-orbit launch / core stage recovery.
The rocket adopts a two-stage semi-configuration of liquid core stage and solid booster, the core one adopts 9 Oriental Space self-developed Force-85 liquid oxygen kerosene engines, and the core stage adopts a Force-85 liquid oxygen kerosene vacuum engine. The booster inherits the gravity-1 booster technology.
