Boyu leads Series C for China's Space Pioneer

The company - also known as Beijing Tianbing Technology - has now raised CNY 3bn across 11 funding rounds, according to a statement.

Founded in 2019, Space Pioneer focuses on reusable orbital rocket technology, including launch vehicles and liquid-fuelled rocket engines. The new capital will support the development of its latest large liquid rocket - Tianlong III - the building of launch stations, the expansion of production capacity, and recruitment.

After three years of development, Tianlong II completed a successful maiden launch in April, sending a satellite into sun-synchronous orbit at a height of 500 kilometres. Space Pioneer claimed this was the first incidence in which a privately-owned liquid rocket had reached orbit on a debut flight. The company has received 10 launch orders for Tianlong II.

The rocket has a capacity of 1.5 tons, rising to 2 tons for near-earth orbit. Tianlong III has a much larger capacity, carrying up to 17 tons for near-earth orbit. The debut launch is scheduled for next year and the company wants to be able to complete 30 launches a year by 2025.

Rockets have become a popular investment theme in China, especially given rising technology competition - and expectations of greater technology decoupling - between the US and China.

The country's National Development & Reform Commission classified satellite internet as new infrastructure in 2020. It wants the private sector to catch up with US-based SpaceX, which plans to launch as many as 42,000 satellites into near-earth orbit. It has been estimated that orbit capacity is 60,000-100,000 satellites.

Chinese rocket developers that have received funding, include Landspace, OneSpace, and Orienspace. The latter closed a USD 60m round last year.

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• Topics
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• Boyu Capital
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• Defense & aerospace