Space Pioneer

Space Pioneer, also known as Beijing Tianbing Technology Co., Ltd., is a Chinese aerospace company developing reusable orbital rocket technology—both launch vehicles and liquid rocket engines—to access the market for low-cost space launch services. The company is aiming to meet launch requirements for both the Chinese national satellite internet project and also the CNSA solicitation for resupply of the Tiangong space station.

The stated mission of Space Pioneer is to "pursue new breakthroughs in technology and performance, [and] to select a technological path based on the needs of the commercial market to improve launch efficiency and reduce launch costs."

History
Space Pioneer was founded in 2019 by Kang Yonglai. Kang was the former CTO of LandSpace until 2019, when he left to establish Space Pioneer.

The company completed two funding rounds in 2019, including a ZJU Joint Innovation investment, to continue liquid bipropellant engine development of the Tianhuo series of rocket engines.

In April 2020, the company raised US$14 million in order to complete development of its 30 tf liquid rocket engine Tianhuo-3, which had begun igniter hot fire tests in 2019. This was followed in September with a "multiple hundreds of millions of yuan" (CN¥millions) Series A capital raise.

The company secured US$30 million venture capital funding in a pre-B funding round in July 2021. The funds were used to complete initial development of the Tianlong-1 reusable launch vehicle, a kerolox-propellant vehicle with a payload capacity to orbit exceeding 3 t, during 2021–22.

In July 2023, Space Pioneer announced that it had raised hundreds of millions of yuan in C-round funding, bringing the total amount raised to around US$414 million. The funds will be used for the development of the Tianlong-3 reusable launch vehicle.

Technology
Space Pioneer is developing reusable spaceflight technology rather than the traditional expendable rocket technology. Both launch vehicles and liquid rocket engines are being designed for reuse.

Tianlong-1
Tianlong-1 is a kerosene-liquid oxygen (kerolox) fueled vehicle using the Tianhuo-3 engine, with a payload capacity to low Earth orbit exceeding 3 t.

Tianlong-2
Tianlong-2, another launch vehicle designed by the company, entered service in early 2023. It is 32.8m tall, and it can lift up to 2t to LEO and 1.5t to 500km SSO. The maiden flight of Tianlong-2 took place on 2 April 2023, successfully carrying the Jinta cubesat from Hunan Hangsheng Satellite Technology to a Sun-synchronous orbit. This mission represented the first successful launch of a Chinese privately funded, liquid-fueled, kerolox rocket with Space Pioneer becoming the first startup company to reach orbit on its maiden attempt.

Tianlong-3
Tianlong-3 is a two-stage kerolox launch vehicle with a reusable first stage that is currently under development. It is designed to lift about 17t to LEO and 14t to 500km SSO, comparable to SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle. As of November 2023, the first launch is scheduled for June 2024, with two more launches planned before the end of 2024.

On June 30th, 2024, a Tianlong-3 first stage rocket detached from its stand during a static fire test due to a structural failure, resulting in an unintentional launch. The rocket landed and exploded in the mountains 1.5 km southwest of the test site in Gongyi, China, and no casualties were reported.

Engines
Space Pioneer's engine series are designated as Tianhuo (Sky Fire). Early concepts include Tianhuo-1 (TH-1), the initial Space Pioneer rocket engine, with hot-fire ground testing completed before 2020. Tianhuo-2 (TH-2) was developed subsequent to Tianhuo-1, with the first hot fire test of the engine in early 2020. Tianhuo-3 (TH-3) is a kerolox liquid-bipropellant rocket engine with 30 tf of thrust. It is intended to be the main engine for the Tianlong-1 launch vehicle. The engine had its first hot-fire test in December 2020, with a 50-second duration ground test run.

Space Pioneer later re-designated TH-3 as TH-11, which successfully powered the second stage of the Tianlong-2 rocket. A larger, 100 tf class TH-12 engine is in development for its upcoming Tianlong-3 launch vehicle.