Chinese aerospace company
Beijing Tianbing Technology Co., Ltd.
|
| Space Pioneer
|
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Native name
| 北京天兵科技有限公司
|
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Company type
| Private
|
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Industry
| Aerospace
|
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Founded
| 2019
; 5 years ago
(
2019
)
|
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Founder
| Kang Yonglai
|
---|
Headquarters
| ,
China
|
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Website
| www
.spacepioneer
.cc
|
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Space Pioneer
(
Chinese
:
天兵科技
), also known as
Beijing Tianbing Technology Co., Ltd.
, is a Chinese
aerospace
company developing
reusable
orbital
rocket technology?both
launch vehicles
and
liquid
rocket engines
?to access the market for low-cost space launch services. The company is aiming to meet launch requirements for both the
Chinese national
satellite internet
project and also the
CNSA
solicitation
for resupply of the
Tiangong space station
.
[1]
The stated mission of Space Pioneer is to "pursue new breakthroughs in technology and performance, [and] to select a technological path based on the needs of the commercial market to improve launch efficiency and reduce launch costs."
[2]
History
[
edit
]
Space Pioneer was founded in 2019
[3]
by Kang Yonglai.
[2]
Kang was the former CTO of
LandSpace
until 2019, when he left to establish Space Pioneer.
[4]
The company completed two funding rounds in 2019, including a ZJU Joint Innovation investment,
[3]
to continue
liquid
bipropellant
engine
development
of the Tianhuo series of
rocket engines
.
In April 2020, the company raised
US$14 million
in order to complete development of its 30 tf (66,000 lbf) liquid rocket engine Tianhuo-3, which had begun igniter hot fire tests in 2019.
[3]
This was followed in September with a "multiple hundreds of millions of yuan" (CN¥millions)
Series A
capital raise.
[2]
The company secured
US$30 million
venture capital
funding in a pre-B funding round in July 2021. The funds were used to complete initial development of the Tianlong-1
reusable
launch vehicle
, a
kerolox
-propellant vehicle with a payload capacity to orbit exceeding 3 tonnes (6,600 lb), during 2021?22.
[1]
In July 2023, Space Pioneer announced that it had raised hundreds of millions of yuan in C-round funding, bringing the total amount raised to around
US$414 million
. The funds will be used for the development of the Tianlong-3 reusable launch vehicle.
[5]
Technology
[
edit
]
Space Pioneer is developing
reusable
spaceflight technology rather than the traditional
expendable
rocket technology. Both
launch vehicles
and
liquid
rocket engines
are being designed for reuse.
Tianlong-1
[
edit
]
Tianlong-1
is a
kerosene
-
liquid oxygen
(
kerolox
) fueled vehicle using the Tianhuo-3 engine, with a payload capacity to
low Earth orbit
exceeding 3 tonnes (6,600 lb).
[1]
Tianlong-2
[
edit
]
Tianlong-2
, another launch vehicle designed by the company, entered service in early 2023.
[6]
It is 32.8m tall, and it can lift up to 2t to
LEO
and 1.5t to 500km
SSO
.
[7]
The maiden flight of Tianlong-2 took place on 2 April 2023, successfully carrying the Jinta cubesat from Hunan Hangsheng Satellite Technology to a
Sun-synchronous
orbit. This mission represented the first successful launch of a Chinese privately funded, liquid-fueled, kerolox rocket with Space Pioneer becoming the first startup company to reach orbit on its maiden attempt.
[8]
Tianlong-3
[
edit
]
Tianlong-3
is a two-stage kerolox launch vehicle with a reusable first stage that is currently under development. It is designed to lift about 17t to
LEO
and 14t to 500km
SSO
, comparable to
SpaceX
's
Falcon 9
launch vehicle. As of November 2023, the first launch is scheduled for June 2024, with two more launches planned before the end of 2024.
[9]
Engines
[
edit
]
Space Pioneer's engine series are designated as Tianhuo (Sky Fire). Early concepts include Tianhuo-1 (TH-1), the initial Space Pioneer rocket engine, with hot-fire
ground testing
completed before 2020.
[2]
Tianhuo-2 (TH-2) was developed subsequent to Tianhuo-1, with the first hot fire test of the engine in early 2020.
[3]
[2]
Tianhuo-3 (TH-3) is a kerolox liquid-bipropellant rocket engine with 30 tonnes-force (66,000 lbf) of
thrust
. It is intended to be the main engine for the Tianlong-1 launch vehicle.
[3]
The engine had its first hot-fire test in December 2020, with a 50-second duration
ground test
run.
[10]
Space Pioneer later re-designated TH-3 as
TH-11
, which successfully powered the second stage of the
Tianlong-2
rocket. A larger, 100 tonnes-force (220,000 lbf) class
TH-12
engine is in development for its upcoming
Tianlong-3
launch vehicle.
Launches
[
edit
]
Rocket & Serial
|
Date
|
Payload
|
Orbit
|
Launch Site
|
Outcome
|
Notes
|
Tianlong-2
|
2 April 2023,
08:48
UTC
[11]
|
Ai Taikong Kexue
(“love space science”)
|
SSO
|
Jiuquan
|
Success
|
First Chinese private launch firm to achieve orbit with a liquid propellant rocket, the first company in the world to reach orbit on its first attempt using a fully liquid fueled rocket.
|
Tianlong-3
|
June 2024
[9]
|
|
SSO
|
Wenchang
|
Planned
|
Maiden flight of Tianlong-3.
|
Tianlong-3
|
September 2024
[9]
|
|
SSO
|
Wenchang
|
Planned
|
|
Tianlong-3
|
November 2024
[9]
|
|
SSO
|
Jiuquan
|
Planned
|
|
See also
[
edit
]
- i-Space
, a competitive Chinese private launch company using solid rocket engine technology
- OneSpace
, a Chinese company competitor
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Jones, Andrew (27 July 2021).
"Chinese rocket company Space Pioneer secures major funding ahead of first launch"
.
SpaceNews
.
Archived
from the original on 27 July 2021
. Retrieved
27 July
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Chinese Commercial Rocket Startup Space Pioneer Secures Series A"
.
China Money Network
. 17 September 2020.
Archived
from the original on 20 February 2021
. Retrieved
31 July
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Jones, Andrew (14 April 2020).
"Space Pioneer raises $14 million to develop green liquid rocket engines"
.
SpaceNews
.
Archived
from the original on 1 August 2021
. Retrieved
27 July
2021
.
- ^
"Space Pioneer: Pioneering a Second-Mover Advantage"
. 27 September 2021
. Retrieved
13 March
2024
.
- ^
Jones, Andrew (7 July 2023).
"Chinese launch firm secures fresh funding for reusable rocket"
.
SpaceNews
. Retrieved
21 September
2023
.
- ^
Jones, Andrew (13 February 2023).
"Launches of Chinese commercial rockets could double in 2023"
.
SpaceNews
. Retrieved
14 February
2023
.
- ^
China 'N Asia Spaceflight [@CNSpaceflight] (16 October 2022).
"Finally we have more data of the mysterious Tianlong-2: 32.8m tall 5.7m D3.35m fairing 190t liftoff thrust with 7 TH-11(?) 1 300KN closed-cycle kerolox TH-11 vacuum in 2nd stage TH-31 upper stage for payloads deployment 2t to LEO 1.5t to 500km SSO"
(
Tweet
)
. Retrieved
16 October
2022
– via
Twitter
.
- ^
China 'N Asia Spaceflight [@CNSpaceflight] (2 April 2023).
"?? History made on April 02, 2023! Liftoff at ~08:48UTC, SPACE-PIONEER's Tianlong-2 successfully launched Jinta cubesat from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. ?? World's first startup to successfully launch a liquid fueled rocket to orbit on first attempt"
(
Tweet
) – via
Twitter
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
China 'N Asia Spaceflight [@CNSpaceflight] (30 November 2023).
"A leaked photo shows SPACE-PIONEER is targeting next June for the maiden launch of Tianlong-3, 14t to 500km SSO, from Wenchang commercial launch pad#2, which is still under construction. 2 more launches are planned for September & November from Wenchang & Jiuquan, 11t to 800km"
(
Tweet
) – via
Twitter
.
- ^
"Tianbing Technology's "Tianhuo 3" 30-ton Liquid Rocket Engine Has Completed Its First Test Run"
. EqualOcean. 29 July 2021.
Archived
from the original on 29 July 2021
. Retrieved
29 July
2021
.
- ^
Jones, Andrew (3 April 2023).
"China's Space Pioneer reaches orbit with liquid propellant rocket"
.
SpaceNews
. Retrieved
16 April
2023
.
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Sounding rockets
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Orbital launch vehicles
| Active
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In development
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Retired
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Projects and missions
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Science
| Planetary science
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Astronomy and
cosmology
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Earth observation
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Human
spaceflight
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Navigation
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Telecommunications
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Technology
demonstrators
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Related
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- Future missions marked in
italics
. Failed missions marked with † sign
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Centers
| Space cities
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Monitoring and
control centers
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Launch sites
| Suborbital launch sites
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Orbital launch sites
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Crewed spacecraft
landing site
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Associated
organizations
| Universities and institutes
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Ministries and agencies
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Commercial companies
| Launch providers
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Spacecraft manufacturers
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Component suppliers
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Current
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In development
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Retired
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Classes
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- This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future
- Symbol
†
indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)
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