HUZHOU, Dec 29 (Reuters) – China’s rocket startup Landspace has made no secret of its inspiration from Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Earlier this month, the Beijing-based firm became the first Chinese entity to test a reusable rocket. This put SpaceX on alert and LandSpace is now preparing to go public to fund its future projects, just as its larger and more successful US rival is considering its own initial public offering.
Although Landspace’s Zhuk-3 rocket test ended in failure, its aspirations to become second only to SpaceX in reusable rockets are providing new impetus to China’s space industry, which has long been dominated by risk-averse, state-owned enterprises.
“(SpaceX) can push products to the edge and even to failure, quickly identify limits and iterate,” Zhuque-3 chief designer Dai Zheng told state broadcaster CCTV after the rocket’s inaugural flight.
Dai said his decision to join LandSpace in 2016 and leave the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the country’s main state-owned rocket developer, was partly motivated by SpaceX’s focus on reusability and a desire to create a Chinese counterpart.
Landspace’s focus is on giving China its own low-cost launch option, like SpaceX’s reusable rocket Falcon 9, which will play a key role in Beijing’s plans to build a constellation of 10,000 satellites over the coming decades.
“Falcon 9 is a successful configuration that has been tested by engineering,” Zhuque-3 deputy chief designer Dong Cai said in a podcast interview last week. “After studying it, we understand its rationality; it is learning, not imitation.”
“To call (Zhuque-3) the ‘Chinese Falcon 9’ is, I think, a very high compliment.”
Its startup culture and imitation of SpaceX have already initiated a paradigm shift in China’s space industry.
China’s state-led space program has historically been allergic to failed launches, in contrast to SpaceX and other Western firms that regularly broadcast their mishaps.
But earlier this month, state media covered China’s first two failed attempts to recover a reusable rocket, with the second launch coming from a state-owned firm, three weeks after Zhuk-3’s first flight.
Landspace also opened its engine factory floor to Reuters this month, allowing foreign media to get a glimpse at one of its key assets for the first time.
After opening up the space sector to private money in 2014, which spawned several startups including LandSpace, Beijing is now looking to help major domestic players tap capital markets by making it easier for them to pursue IPOs.
