Orienspace
Bu Xiangwei
Overview
Orienspace (Oriental Space / Dongfang Space), founded in 2020 in Yantai, builds the Gravity (Yinli) family of launch vehicles. Its solid-propellant Gravity-1 is the world's largest and most powerful solid-fuel carrier rocket — sea-launched from a barge off Haiyang and capable of 6,500 kg to LEO — with two successful flights to date (January 2024 maiden, October 2025 second). The company is now developing Gravity-2, a roughly 70-meter, partially reusable kerosene-liquid oxygen heavy-lift rocket powered by nine in-house Yuanli-110 engines and sized at over 20 tonnes to LEO, with a first flight targeted as early as 2026. Orienspace raised an $83.5M Series B in January 2024 and has been valued at roughly $823M.
Main Products
Solid-propellant medium-lift launch vehicle with a unique configuration of four ground-lit strap-on boosters and three air-lit core stages. Sea-launched from a barge off Haiyang, it is the world's largest and most powerful solid-fuel carrier rocket.
Two successful sea launches to date (January 2024 maiden, October 2025 second). Orienspace is moving to concurrent vehicle production and targets up to four flights in 2026 on a quarterly cadence.
Two-stage, partially reusable kerosene-liquid oxygen heavy-lift rocket with a vertically landing first stage powered by nine in-house Yuanli-110 engines — Orienspace's higher-than-Falcon-9-class vehicle.
The Yuanli-110 engine completed its first test firing in September 2025 and a nozzle-less restart test in November 2025. A first flight is targeted as early as 2026, with initial flights potentially using YF-102 engines while Yuanli-110 matures.
What's Next
Operations & Revenue
Gravity-1 is operational with two successful sea launches and remains the world's largest solid-fuel carrier rocket; Orienspace is targeting up to four Gravity-1 flights in 2026 on a quarterly cadence. The reusable kerolox Gravity-2 is in development, with its Yuanli-110 engine through initial firings and a first flight targeted as early as 2026.
Revenue Streams
Dedicated solid-fuel launches of the sea-launched Gravity-1 from a barge off Haiyang in the Yellow Sea, primarily for Chinese commercial Earth-observation and constellation customers.
Key Metrics
Timeline
On January 11, 2024, Gravity-1 reaches orbit on its debut from a sea platform off Haiyang, deploying Yunyao-1 weather satellites and becoming the world's largest solid-fuel carrier rocket. That same month Orienspace closes an $83.5M (600M yuan) Series B to accelerate Gravity-2.