Orienspace's "Force-110" engine completes long-duration full-engine hot fire test

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 23, Orienspace announced that its independently developed "Force-110" liquid oxygen/kerosene engine completed a long-duration full-engine hot fire test. This round of testing focused on iterative optimization of the engine's core components and system design, completing long-duration operating condition assessments including startup, steady-state operation, and shutdown. All core parameters met design expectations during the test. The "Force-110" has now entered the reliability verification phase and will continue to undergo test verification for engineering applications and flight delivery.

The "Force-110" is the primary engine developed by Orienspace for the "Gravity-2" large reusable liquid launch vehicle. It adopts a liquid oxygen/kerosene propellant and gas generator cycle technical approach, with a sea-level thrust of 110 tonnes, vacuum thrust of 122 tonnes, sea-level specific impulse of 285 seconds, vacuum specific impulse of 313 seconds, thrust-to-weight ratio of 170, and thrust throttling range of 40%–110%. The engine employs pintle injector technology to meet the deceleration and control requirements during the first-stage return through a wide range of thrust variation, with a design goal of more than 20 reuses per unit.

The "Gravity-2" first stage is equipped with 9 "Force-110" engines, and the second stage is equipped with 1 vacuum version engine. The rocket has a height of approximately 70 meters, a core stage diameter of 4.2 meters, a fairing diameter of 5.2 meters, a liftoff weight of approximately 715 tonnes, and a liftoff thrust of approximately 990 tonnes; its low Earth orbit payload capacity is 21.5 tonnes, and its 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit payload capacity is 15 tonnes. The first stage is designed according to a recovery and reuse scheme.

The "Force-110" has previously completed semi-system hot fire tests, the first full-engine hot fire test, and multiple rounds of full-engine tests, among which the full-engine tests verified the engine's startup and shutdown sequence, component coordination and matching, and multiple-start capability. Orienspace is currently advancing large-scale ground tests before the maiden flight of the "Gravity-2," and plans to be ready for the maiden flight in the fourth quarter of 2026. Following the completion of this long-duration full-engine hot fire test, engine development continues into the reliability verification and flight application preparation phase.