China’s iSpace raises first batch of series E funding for reusable rocketry

HELSINKI — Chinese reusable launch vehicle maker has secured a first batch of series E funding, months after a huge D++ round, with fundraising still ongoing.

The funding is the opening raise of a planned series E round, securing iSpace nearly $148 million (1 billion yuan), according to STCN, a Chinese financial news outlet. The round was dominated by asset investment companies affiliated with China’s major state banks, following a trend of such investment triggered by strong central government signalling of the strategic importance of commercial space.

The new funding will go towards research and mass production of the Hyperbola-3 reusable launch vehicle, the capacity to manufacture the Focus-2 methane-liquid oxygen engine, launch and sea recovery infrastructure, and the pre-research of heavy-lift launch vehicle technology.

The development follows iSpace securing a record $729 million in February this year, dedicated to reusable rocketry and expanding the company’s industrial footprint. That round was driven by government industrial funds, state-linked strategic ecosystem investors, municipal and provincial investment vehicles and private equity.

iSpace has been working towards a first launch of its first liquid propellant rocket, the Hyperbola-3, previously aiming for a test launch in 2025. The launcher has a reported payload capacity of 8,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit in reusable mode and 13,400 kg to LEO in expendable mode. The most recent statements call for the debut flight of the two-stage, 69-meters-long Hyperbola-3 before the end of 2026, with an attempted first stage recovery attempt as part of the mission.

The company launched what it described as the country’s first rocket recovery ship in August 2025, with the vessel subsequently undergoing testing. “Interstellar Return” is 100 meters long and 42 meters wide and is designed to recover the first stage of the Hyperbola-3 rocket and can accommodate recovery of other medium- and large-scale reusable rockets.

China completed its first orbital booster recovery in July when another vessel, equipped with a net-capture system, caught the first stage of the first Long March 10B rocket. Landspace’s Zhuque-3 was due to launch and make a second recovery attempt Aug. 10, but wind conditions apparently forced a rescheduling to an as yet undisclosed time, with the delay becoming apparent shortly after the explosion and loss of a Long March 7A rocket earlier Aug. 10.

In terms of IPO, iSpace plans to list on the STAR Market in the second half of 2027, according to reports, following the expected debut of the Hyperbola-3. It is among a number of major commercial Chinese launch companies making such moves, along with Landspace, Orienspace, CAS Space, Space Pioneer and Galactic Energy. The moves come amid a wider wave of capital flowing into China’s commercial space sector.

The company became the first Chinese commercial firm to reach orbit in July 2019 with the Hyperbola-1 solid rocket, yet the launcher has since flown just seven more times, including four failures. The latest mission flew, successfully, in July 2025. iSpace faces strong competition, with Landspace having successfully reached orbit with Zhuque-3, Galactic Energy set to debut Pallas-1 in the near future, CAS Space reaching orbit with Kinetica-2, and Space Pioneer having already made a launch attempt with Tianlong-3.

The companies are competing for launch contracts for China’s megaconstellations, with launch reliability, recovery and reuse, and cadence likely determining their success or otherwise.