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OneSpace Launches One of China’s First Private Rockets

With the eyes of the world pinned to SpaceX, Boeing, and Blue Origin, it’s easy to miss developments in space exploration made in other parts of the world.
OneSpace rocket launched this week 1 photo
Photo: OneSpace
Nearly unnoticed, China managed in a very short time to become a space superpower as well. Alongside Russia, the Asian country is currently the only one capable of launching humans into space, a feat which the Americans cannot match at this point, despite the glorious past.

Usually, the Chinese space program is being controlled by the government, like most high-profile projects in the country, That begins to change, and this trend was visible once again this Thursday after a Beijing-based start-up successfully launched a rocket towards the outer space.

The company in question is called OneSpace, and their achievement is said to be the first of its kind for the Chinese private space sector.

That may not be entirely true for at least one reason. Back in April, another Chinese company, i-Space, claimed to have sent a single-stage solid-propellant rocket at over the 100 km altitude (62 miles), the limit where Earth is said to end, and space is considered to begin.

It’s not yet clear what height this week's rocket reached, but the flight was suborbital. It’s also not clear whether the rocket is reusable or not.

The stated goal of the mission was to collect data for an undisclosed research project conducted together with the government’s Aviation Industry Corporation, CNN reports.

As you might have guessed, OneSpace considers itself the Chinese version of SpaceX. In terms of business model, the company’s CEO Shu Chang says OneSpace is where SpaceX was some years back.

The mid-term plans for OneSpace do not include launching humans in space or cars towards Mars. The company will focus on launching small satellites for various companies. To achieve that, an improved range of rockets is expected to be presented later in the year.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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