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The new rocket called Gravity-1 from the Chinese space company Orienspace was launched last Thursday on a floating platform in the Yellow Sea. The launch is a great success and brings three weather satellites into space.

The launch vehicle with a payload of 6,500 kg is not only the largest rocket from a private company in China, but also the world’s largest solid-fuel rocket. The launch marks another success in China’s growing private space flight.

China’s dreams in space

Since the race to the moon and the end of the space shuttle, NASA has been a bit quieter. Although groundbreaking and perhaps even more scientifically important achievements have been achieved, such as the landing on the asteroid Bennu or the James Webb telescope, progress in rocket technology is mainly taking place at private companies such as SpaceX. Russia’s space program is barely a shadow of its former self, but new competitors like India, Japan and China are also emerging.

The Chinese space program in particular has experienced rapid growth. Although the budget of the Chinese space agency CNSA is still only about a fifth of NASA’s, China has very ambitious goals in the field of space travel.

With the Tiangong Space Station, construction of which began in 2021, China already has the most modern space station in the world. The ISS is located at an altitude of 1005 meters³ Although it is about 60% larger, it is already 22 years old and can only be maintained with constant maintenance.

But China’s plans in space go even further. There are currently plans for a huge satellite constellation called Guowang. Starlink’s power, demonstrated in the Ukraine war, has long been a concern for China, and methods of attacking satellites in space have also been tested.

However, the latest plan is to build a network of nearly 13,000 satellites, which could provide similar services to Starlink and, in the event of war, potentially disrupt the Starlink network as well. Not only is the scale of this plan surprising, but also the timing. The constellation should be completed before Starlink’s.

Moreover, like the US, China is also planning a manned moon mission in the next decade.

(msh)

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