China Launches First Private Rocket Capable of Carrying Satellites
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China launches first private rocket capable of carrying satellites
A Chinese startup successfully launched the country's first commercial rocket capable of carrying satellites into orbit Thursday, as the space race between China and the US heats up.
Beijing-based Interstellar Glory Space Technology-also known as iSpace-said it launched two satellites into orbit around 1:00 pm Beijing time (0500 GMT) from Jiuquan, a state launch facility in the Gobi desert.
The three-year-old company is one of dozens of Chinese rivals jostling for a slice of the global space industry, estimated to be worth about $1 trillion by 2040 according to Morgan Stanley.
The sector is currently dominated by SpaceX and Blue Origin in the US.
But Chinese startups are mostly focused on building technology to launch microsatellites instead of space tourism like their US counterparts, a spokeswoman for iSpace said.
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