Chinese space launch provider get $71m Series C

Proceeds will go to the development of a new launch vehicle – the Zhuque-2 – which will use a liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellant system. LandSpace claims Zhuque-2 as China's first middle to large-size rocket powered by liquid fuel. The company launched Zhuque-1 at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center last year.

LandSpace has secured several contracts this year. In April, it signed contracts with UK-based Open Cosmos and Italy-based D-Orbit, totaling over RMB100 million, according to Xinhua.

The investment brings LandSpace's total funding this year to RMB600 million in 2019. The company raised RMB300 million in an extended Series B led by China Growth Capital in November last year. Previous investors also include Goldwind, CDB Root-Well Industrial Investment, Shiji Tianhua, PGA, and Chuangxiang Angel.

Private space companies have proliferated globally since US-based SpaceX began conducting the first private launches and orbital maneuvers in 2010. In China, the trigger came in 2014, when the government formally allowed private companies to provide satellite launch services in a bid to transform the country into a spaceflight superpower.

Other players in this space include Chongqing-based OneSpace, which launched China's first commercial rocket last year. Meanwhile, iSpace has completed an extended Series A round of undisclosed size led by CDH Investments, with participation from Matrix Partners China and local VC Dianke Xinghe. The State Administration for Science, Technology & Industry for National Defense and CITIC Group previously backed its seed round.

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