Space Epoch builds reusable rockets for satellite operators that need to place payloads in orbit without discarding the first stage after every flight. The Beijing startup has closed another financing as it prepares Yuanxingzhe-1, its first orbital vehicle, for a trip to orbit.
Yicai reported that the Sept. 16 round brought Space Epoch’s total capital raised over the preceding six months to more than $342.8 million. The company did not disclose how much of that total came from the latest round. IDG Capital, Chaos Investment, Hangzhou Capital and Songyuan Capital jointly led the financing.
Yuanxingzhe-1’s planned first mission shows how the system is supposed to work. The second stage would carry its payload into orbit, while the first stage would guide itself back toward the ocean, slow down, hover and complete a controlled splashdown. Space Epoch intends to use that test as groundwork for a later catch-recovery system.
The company has tested pieces of that workflow without reaching orbit. A demonstrator completed a suborbital sea flight and recovery in May 2025, including an engine shutdown and restart at altitude and a hover above the water. The next mission must combine recovery work with an orbital launch.
Specialist publication China in Space reported that two Yuanxingzhe-1 vehicles are in production, with the first nearing completion. Space Epoch says the stainless-steel rocket is designed to carry up to 6,500 kilograms into a 1,100-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit, giving prospective satellite customers a concrete measure of its intended capacity.
Space Epoch plans to offer commercial launch services in 2027 if the debut succeeds. Before that can happen, the company expects to ready Yuanxingzhe-1 by the end of 2026, apply for a launch permit and attempt the orbital flight and first-stage recovery.