China Startup Aims to Close Gap With SpaceX in Reusable Rockets
- Orienspace to launch multiuse vehicle as early as 2025: Co-CEO
- Company also tries to cut costs with launches from offshore
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A Chinese startup 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 lower costs and dominate the global industry for satellite launches.
Beijing-based Orienspace, which last month conducted its first launch of a single-use rocket, 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-Chief Executive Officer Yao Song said in an interview.