Lianjian Aerospace, a portfolio company of China Zhongji Investment, has completed a C-round financing of 500 million yuan.
Recently, Blue Origin Space Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Blue Origin") completed a C-round financing of 500 million RMB. As of December, Blue Origin has completed a total of 600 million RMB in financing in 2019. Previously, China Zhongji Investment participated in Blue Origin's Series B financing in September 2018.
Established in June 2015, Blue Origin is a leading domestic commercial company engaged in the research and operation of liquid rockets. It is a member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and a national high-tech enterprise. The company focuses on the small and medium-sized commercial aerospace application market and is committed to developing new power rocket products using liquid oxygen and methane as propellants, providing cost-effective and reliable launch services to the market. With its leading liquid oxygen/methane technology matrix, complete infrastructure, and continuous innovation capabilities, the company has become a strong supplement to China's aerospace industry.
According to Blue Origin, the funds raised in this round will be mainly used for the research and development of the Zhuque-2 liquid rocket, launch preparations, and verification of reusable rocket technology. Subsequently, the company will continue to strengthen the research and development and mass production capabilities of the Zhuque-2 rocket and Tianque engine, as well as core technologies and testing capabilities, gradually begin technology iteration, and maintain Blue Origin's continued leadership in the private liquid rocket field.
From May to November 2019, Blue Origin successfully completed the full-system hot test of the "Tianque" family of 80+10 liquid oxygen/methane rocket engines. This marks a major breakthrough in research and development work, and the core technology has been effectively verified. At the same time, the Zhuque-2 carrier rocket has already produced initial prototypes of various subsystems, and will conduct intensive ground tests and various preparations before the first flight in the future.
The Zhuque-2 carrier rocket is China's first medium-to-large liquid oxygen/methane rocket. The Zhuque-2 series of liquid carrier rockets adopts a design philosophy of "high reliability, universality, and low cost," relying on "one propellant combination, one rocket body diameter, and two types of engines" to form a series of liquid carrier rocket products with payloads ranging from several tons to tens of tons. At the same time, this series of carrier rockets is also the largest liquid rocket series in terms of payload capacity in the private rocket field.
In April 2019, Blue Origin signed contracts with satellite companies in the UK and Italy that include services such as CubeSat launches and satellite in-orbit delivery; in December, it signed a contract with Tianyi Research Institute, a leader in domestic commercial satellite launches, for Zhuque-2 piggyback launch services. This also marks the recognition of the Zhuque-2 carrier rocket in both international and domestic markets.
