LandSpace launches its first rocket carrying a small satellite at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Northwest China's Gansu Province, on October 27. Photo: VCG

Beijing-based private space company LandSpace has completed 300 million yuan ($43.20 million) in B+ round financing. As of September 30, the company has raised more than 800 million yuan in all, it said on its official WeChat account on Tuesday.

The 300 million yuan will be used in the research and development of the company's 80-ton liquid oxygen methane engine Tianque (TQ-12) and medium-sized liquid carrier rocket Zhuque-2 (ZQ-2).

This round of financing was led by China Growth Capital. Other investors included China Zhongji Investment and Juzhuo Capital.

The three-year-old start-up failed in its first attempt to put a satellite in orbit on October 27, but it was also the first private company in China to build a three-stage launch vehicle for rockets carrying satellites.

The TQ-12 liquid oxygen methane engine completed tests of the short nozzle state thrust chamber at the end of September. It is expected that the full system test will be completed in the first half of 2019. The medium-sized liquid launch vehicle ZQ-2 based on this engine is scheduled to launch in 2020, the company said.

A report by Beijing-based investment institution FutureAerospace said over 60 private domestic companies have entered the commercial space industry over the past three years. The country began in 2014 to encourage private capital in the satellite and spaceflight industries, which were previously closed sectors.