Here’s how China’s Orienspace aims to challenge SpaceX in reusable rockets
The Chinese startup Orienspace is entering the race to develop reusable rockets (like those of the American SpaceX), with the aim of launching its maiden flight by the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026.
After reaching orbit with its launch vehicle, today the biggest name in China's commercial space sector in terms of capability, Orienspace, aims to close the gap with SpaceX in reusable rockets.
The Beijing-based startup, which last month made its first single-use rocket launch , is developing the reusable Gravity-2 and expects the rocket's maiden flight to take place in late 2025 or early 2026, co-founder and co-CEO Yao Song explained in an interview with Bloomberg .
So the Chinese company has set an ambitious timetable in the country's race to develop reusable rockets, a technology pioneered by SpaceX and used by Elon Musk's company to reduce costs and dominate the global satellite launch industry, the newspaper explains.
Although Chinese companies, including startups and state-owned enterprises, launched nearly 70 rockets last year, all of the vehicles were single-use. During that time, SpaceX has made nearly 100 launches of its reusable rockets, Bloomberg points out.
All the details.
WHAT DOES THE PRIVATE CHINESE COMPANY ORIENSPACE DO BEHIND THE GRAVITY-1 ROCKET
Founded in 2020 by veterans of China's state space agencies, Orienspace recently completed a Series B financing round of about 600 million yuan, and the company has a post-funding valuation of about 6 billion yuan, according to Yao.
The company had planned the first launch of the Gravity-1 rocket for the second half of 2023 and now plans two additional Gravity-1 launches for 2024.
According to the Chinese startup, Gravity-1 can put up to 30 satellites into orbit in a single launch. The company also claims it can stage a launch in as little as seven days, and in some cases, as little as 24 hours.
AT WORK ON THE GRAVITY 2 REUSABLE ROCKET
So in addition to the single-use rocket, the Chinese startup aims to develop reusable ones that are transforming access to space because they allow companies to use some of the most expensive parts of the device over and over again, with little refurbishment.
While Musk's SpaceX remains by far the global leader in the sector, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is pushing ahead with plans to launch the reusable New Glenn rocket this year, Bloomberg recalls.
THE CHINESE COMPETITION
Other Chinese companies competing to achieve reusability include Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology, a startup known as i-Space, which staged a test in December. Meanwhile, a subsidiary of state-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp. last month conducted a vertical takeoff and landing test of its reusable Kuaizhou rocket.
THE ADVANTAGES OF LAUNCHING BY SEA
Returning to the single-use Gravity-1 rocket that took off in January, its ability to be launched from a mobile maritime platform increases the number of potential launch sites.
Sea launches would reduce the risk of rocket stages endangering populated areas as they fall back to Earth. An issue addressed in the past with the return of the Chinese Long March 5B rocket classified as "out of control" . As in May 2021 when China reassured: risks for debris falling on inhabited areas were "extremely low".
With launches from water, which can offer operators greater flexibility, risks from rocket debris are reduced, Yao Song, co-chief executive of Orienspace, said at an aerospace conference in April, reported by Beijing media. The Gravity-1 rocket “will significantly reduce the cost of commercial space launches,” the Orienspace manager said.
ORIENSPACE NUMBERS
Finally, some numbers on the Beijing-based space startup.
Orienspace has three to five rocket launches planned in 2025 and five to eight for 2026. The company wants to raise its frequency to 10 times a year in about three years, which would help it achieve revenue of 1 billion yuan ($140 million), according to Yao.
This threshold would make it “easier” to file for an initial public offering, the co-founder and co-CEO told Bloomberg. The challenge to SpaceX is becoming increasingly fierce.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/orienspace-spacex-sfida-razzi-riutilizzabili/ on Sun, 18 Feb 2024 06:23:53 +0000.