Photo: Courtesy of Chen Xiao

Photo: Courtesy of Chen Xiao

Photo: Courtesy of Chen Xiao

Chinese private rocket firm iSpace successfully launched a carrier rocket into orbit at 1 pm on Thursday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, marking a milestone for China's commercial space industry as the first Chinese private space firm to do so.

Named SQX-1 Y-1, the self-developed carrier rocket carried two satellites and several experimental payloads.

It is thus far the largest and most powerful rocket built by a private Chinese space company, the Beijing-based start-up said.

Fueled by solid propellant, the iSpace rocket made its breakthrough "from zero to one" for China's private commercial space sector by realizing successful orbital launch while carrying several satellites, and utilizing space advertising and video transmission.

For China's private rocket firms, the ability to successfully send a carrier rocket to orbital altitude has become the real test in the burgeoning commercial space sector race. 

Prior to the iSpace launch, two domestic private rocket firms - LandSpace and OneSpace - failed in their orbital launches in October 2018 and March this year, respectively.

Global Times