Chinese rocket manufacturer Space Epoch said on Sunday that it is collaborating with Taobao, the online shopping platform owned by Alibaba, to create reusable rockets for rapid delivery that could reach anywhere in the world in an hour.
Space Epoch stated in a note issued on its official WeChat social media account that the project is in the early experimental stages and seeks to construct a rocket that can carry up to 10 tons of goods in a 120 cubic meter container.
Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Beijing-based Space Epoch is looking to use its ‘Yuanxing-1’ rocket, which completed ignition and offshore recovery tests last year.
The company will carry out rocket delivery tests in the near future, noting that achieving its goals will not be easy in the short term.
President Xi Jinping has called for the expansion of strategic industries including the commercial space sector, deemed key to building constellations of satellites for communications, remote sensing and navigation.
Last year saw 17 Chinese commercial launches with one failure, among a new record 67 orbital launches by China. That was up from 10 commercial launches in 2022, including two failures.
Space Epoch secured 200 million yuan ($27.70 million) in its third financing round last November.
($1 = 7.2203 Chinese yuan renminbi)
