HELSINKI -- Nayuta Space, a Chinese commercial launch company, has secured significant funding to further develop its reusable rocket technology. The company announced on January 24 that it received "tens of millions of yuan" in pre-A round funding, primarily from Quanxin Investment. This investment will enhance the team and support ongoing rocket development.
Nayuta Space is working on a series of stainless steel rockets named Black Bird, with the Xuanniao-1 (Black Bird-1) set to utilize nine methane-liquid oxygen engines from Beijing Aerospace Propulsion Technology Co. Ltd. The company's innovative approach aims for the reusability of both rocket stages, employing aerodynamic recovery techniques to minimize fuel consumption during reentry.
The first stage will utilize an "eagle grab" method, inspired by SpaceX's Starship, to recover the rocket without needing landing legs. Nayuta Space claims to be the first commercial entity in China to develop this aerodynamic recovery technology. While the second stage recovery remains a longer-term objective, the company plans to launch a reusable suborbital rocket by 2025, with an orbital flight of Black Bird-1 targeted for 2026.
China's current lack of active reusable launch vehicles contrasts with the growing ambitions of both state-owned and commercial entities in the space sector. This includes plans for extensive satellite communications networks, highlighting the urgency for increased launch capacities.
As Nayuta Space and other new companies like Cosmoleap emerge, they represent a shift in China's approach to competitive spaceflight, following a 2014 policy change that encouraged commercial space ventures.