China’s Space Epoch raises new funding, targets 2026 launch and recovery attempt

HELSINKI — Chinese launch startup Space Epoch has secured B-round funding as the company moves towards a first orbital launch and recovery attempt late this year.

Space Epoch, full name Beijing Jianyuan Technology Co., Ltd., also sometimes referred to as Sepoch, announced a Series B financing round of an undisclosed amount Feb. 12, stating that the round involved participation from several leading market-oriented institutions, without identifying its backers.

The company says the funding means Space Epoch has entered a stage of large-scale development. “Three Yuanxingzhe-1 rockets already in production will undergo ground testing in the second half of the year, with the goal of achieving a successful first orbital launch and recovery by year’s end,” Space Epoch said in a statement.

The funding will also assist the further development of the company’s industrial footprint, namely its “Beijing-Shandong-Hangzhou” layout. Beijing hosts its research and development center, focusing on core technology development, strategic planning and market operations, while a test and launch setup is located in Shandong province. The Hangzhou facility houses three core segments, namely manufacturing, recovery and reuse, and inspection and testing, providing an integrated, closed-loop capability spanning launch, recovery, inspection and relaunch, according to the company.

Yuanxingzhe-1 (YXZ-1) is a methane-liquid oxygen rocket designed for reusability. Space Epoch says it has a payload capacity of 13,800 kilograms to a 200-kilometer orbit and 9,000 kg to a 1,100 km orbit—the latter altitude being one associated with the national Guowang megaconstellation. It also claims a price of no more than 20,000 yuan per kilogram (about $2,900 per kg), with the rocket designed to be reusable 20 times.

The company conducted a vertical takeoff and splashdown test in May 2025 using a YXZ-1 verification rocket, carrying out a reuse test two months later. The test article used Longyun methane-liquid oxygen engines provided by commercial firm Jiuzhou Yunjian. Space Epoch previously stated it aimed for a launch and recovery test by the end of 2025 following that successful splashdown test.

Space Epoch is one of China’s newer commercial launch startups. It states it was founded in 2022 and has core research and development personnel drawn from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), one of two primary manufacturers of China’s Long March rockets under the aegis of CASC. Space Epoch previously secured a 200 million yuan (US$27.6m) funding round in 2023. 

The company entered a strategic partnership with satellite operator Shifang Xinglian to build a constellation of medium Earth orbit satellites in 2024. It has also partnered with Taobao, Alibaba’s major e-commerce platform, to explore the feasibility of rocket-based express delivery.

Space Epoch joins fellow commercial Chinese entities Galactic Energy, Space Pioneer, CAS Space, Orienspace and Deep Blue Aerospace in targeting debuts of potentially reusable rockets during 2026. iSpace, which recently secured a record funding round, also aims to launch its Hyperbola-3 this year with a sea recovery attempt. Landspace and CASC have already made first orbital booster recovery attempts with the Zhuque-3 and Long March 12A respectively.