Chinese private sector making inroads in rocket industry

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For a long time in China, "rocket science" was seen by many as a mysterious, high-tech industry that's financed by the military. But the private sector is gradually catching up and looking for its own slice of the industry.

Earlier this month, an enterprise in Beijing launched its first vertical landing rocket. An experiment that successfully tested out reusable rockets technique.

“We have now designed a technique that allows our rockets to take-off and land vertically,” said Cai Dehuai, an engineer from LinkSpace.

The company’s CEO, Hu Zhenyu, founded his start-up before he had even left university in 2014.

A machinery manufacturing specialist at LinkSpace in Shenzhen, works on the shaker table, part of the research equipment for the company's rocket launch project. /China Daily Photo

"When I decided to enter this industry, I wasn't fearful, because I didn't know how tough it would be," Hu said. Later he just tackled whatever difficulties he faced when problems arose.

Hu's team has made a lot of progress since then. Their current reusable spacecraft is one of their key projects.

China's state-owned aerospace company hasn't invested much in this technique, not because it can't, it just feels the time isn't right, which allows private enterprises have been able to spot a gap in the market.

“The good thing about being a private company is that our operations are separate from the traditional state system,” said Hu. “We can strategically integrate our human resources and skills. As for the supply chain, we have more flexibility to purchase devices from private companies.”

There aren't many Chinese private companies that build rockets, but four of them are here in Yizhuang. It's an Economic Technological Development Area in southeast Beijing. A lot of aerospace talent is here, giving the companies an edge for the commercialization of the space industry."

OneSpace is another one of the companies in Yizhuang. It's expecting to launch its first rocket in the next few months.

However, its founder Shu Chang says private companies can't get too romantic about the thoughts of deep space exploration.

“We are not like the national aerospace authorities who have a lot of state-planned programs to work on,” Shu said, adding that business development projects in the industry will be done by private companies in the future, because private sectors pay more attention to efficiency and cost.

Shu Chang, founder of OneSpace /CCTV Photo

The competition is already hotting up. By 2020, the international aerospace industry could be worth nearly half a trillion US dollars, and China will account for about a quarter of that. About 2,000 satellites will be sent into orbit in the next decade, and two-thirds of them will be for commercial use.

Scientific projects and research in China require high levels of security and safety standards, which put a strain on the finances of many private companies.

“The overall environment is good. The Chinese military allows private enterprises to get involved in the field of carrier rockets. But we still need some actual support from them,” Hu said.

Hu said his team has still a long way to go to be a real player in the industry, but at least its first giant step has been made.