36Kr Exclusive | A Manufacturer of Core Components for Space Engines Receives Investment, the Only Private Enterprise in China with One-Stop Manufacturing Capability for Core Components

Author | Qiao Yujie

Editor | Yuan Silai

Yingke learned that Beijing Sichuang Aerospace Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Sichuang Aerospace") recently completed a new round of financing of tens of millions of yuan, exclusively invested by Dancheng Capital.

Sichuang Aerospace was formerly the Aerospace Project Center of Shenyang Rongchuang Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Rongchuang Precision is a wholly - owned subsidiary of the listed company Fuchuang Precision). As early as March 2020, it began to participate in the manufacturing business of aerospace engine parts and was officially established as an independent company in 2025.

Currently, the company focuses on the precision manufacturing of core parts of aerospace engines, satellites and other aerospace products. Its main customers include Galaxy Power, Interstellar Glory, Orient Space, Dahang Yueqian, CSSC, Shenyang Foundry Research Institute, etc.

In terms of the team, Xu Shuning, the founder of the company, once served as the senior director of the Shenyang Fuchuang Division and the general manager of the Rongchuang Aerospace Project Center. The current team has more than 70 people, and the core team members all come from the original aerospace project center, with strong technical continuity and engineering collaboration ability.

As the domestic commercial aerospace industry gradually enters the stage of mass production, low - cost, high - efficiency and rapid iteration competition, the importance of the engine manufacturing link continues to increase. Compared with the previous model mainly based on single - point parts supply, the industry has put forward higher requirements for the design and manufacturing collaboration of core components, the integration of various complex manufacturing processes, and the rapid formation of stable and efficient mass - production capabilities.

Currently, Sichuang Aerospace's products cover the supply of aerospace engine parts, core components to the assembly close to the complete machine state, with relatively complete full - process manufacturing capabilities. The core products include the three core components of the engine, such as the thrust chamber, turbopump, and gas generator. At the same time, it can also produce supporting components such as valves, heat exchangers, and pipelines.

In rocket engine manufacturing, the welding process has always been one of the key links in determining reliability and consistency. Due to the differences in the structure, material system and propellant scheme of different engines, an engine often needs to combine and apply a variety of welding processes.

It is reported that Sichuang Aerospace has currently mastered a variety of process routes such as argon arc welding, electron beam welding, laser welding, and vacuum diffusion welding. Among them, the person in charge of argon arc welding has long served Xi'an Aerospace Engine Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and has deep technical accumulation within the system; the electron beam welding team has a background in semiconductor precision manufacturing and has served international semiconductor equipment enterprises, with relatively rich experience in ultra - high - precision welding and vacuum environment control.

In addition to the welding ability, what really determines the threshold of engine manufacturing lies in the "know - how" behind the integration of a variety of manufacturing technologies to form a complex process system on the basis of a full understanding of the key performance requirements of key parts of aerospace engines.

Xu Shuning believes that part processing itself is not the highest barrier. The real difficulty lies in how to further integrate parts into components and assemblies with systematic comprehensive process capabilities, and ensure accuracy, consistency and reliability in the multi - process collaboration process. A large number of process details, including processing parameters, special tooling, welding materials, welding parameters, testing methods and equipment, all require long - term engineering experience accumulation.

"Many processes seem simple, but when it comes to actual implementation, the lack of any one detail may lead to failure." Xu Shuning said.

It is reported that the company has currently precipitated dozens of sets of standardized process flows at the level of "operation manuals", covering the comprehensive application of conventional processes and special processes.

Currently, the company has served many leading domestic commercial aerospace enterprises. It participates in manufacturability evaluation, structural process optimization and cost control in the early stage of engine design, conducts design for manufacturing (DFM) with customers, and promotes the engineering and mass - production practice of manufacturing for performance (MFP). As of the end of April this year, the company has received orders worth more than 68 million yuan, with a strong business growth momentum.

At the same time, the company is also promoting the planning and construction of a flexible production line for key components of aerospace engines with human - machine collaboration, automation and intelligence. At present, the relevant plan has completed the design and feasibility demonstration. Xu Shuning said that in the future, he hopes to further reduce the dependence on human experience, improve product stability, and the overall manufacturing efficiency is expected to increase by more than 50%.

The following is an excerpt from the interview (slightly edited):

Yingke: What is Sichuang Aerospace's most core competitiveness in the industry at present?

Xu Shuning: Our core advantage lies in a more complete coverage of manufacturing capabilities. From part processing, core component manufacturing to the assembly supply close to the complete machine state, we have basically formed a relatively complete engine manufacturing chain.

Currently, we have the independent manufacturing ability for the three most core components of rocket engines - the thrust chamber, turbopump, and gas generator. At the same time, we can also produce supporting systems such as valves, heat exchangers, and pipelines. Many enterprises in the industry often focus on a single direction, such as only making pumps, only making valves or only making structural parts. Currently, Sichuang Aerospace is the only private enterprise in China that can provide one - stop services for core parts of aerospace engines.

Yingke: Welding is a key process in rocket engine manufacturing. What accumulations does Sichuang have in this link?

Xu Shuning: An engine often involves a variety of welding processes, such as argon arc welding, electron beam welding, laser welding, and vacuum diffusion welding. Different engine designs and material systems have different requirements for process routes. Our advantage lies in having the ability of multiple welding processes at the same time, and the team background covers two routes: in - system aerospace manufacturing and high - end precision manufacturing.

For example, the person in charge of argon arc welding has long been engaged in core welding work at Xi'an Aerospace Engine Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and has relatively deep in - system experience accumulation. The electron beam welding team comes from a semiconductor precision manufacturing background. In fact, the precision requirements of some semiconductor equipment parts are higher than those of aerospace engines, and many dimensional accuracies can reach the 10 - micron level. Therefore, the electron beam welding team originally dealt with manufacturing scenarios with higher precision than aerospace. After entering the aerospace field, after several years of process research and development and practice in accordance with aerospace industry standards, they have now formed the ability of large - scale electron beam welding specifically for rocket engines. We have also custom - developed a set of electron beam welding equipment dedicated to aerospace engines, and the overall welding efficiency can be increased by about 30%.

In addition, vacuum diffusion welding is also a relatively scarce ability in the industry at present. After several years of research and development, we have currently completed the verification of a one - quarter scale experimental part and are basically approaching the engineering stage. The company will also purchase special equipment in the future to further promote the construction of mass - production capabilities.

Yingke: In addition to welding, what other technical accumulations does Sichuang Aerospace have in engine manufacturing?

Xu Shuning: The real difficulty actually lies in the integration of various manufacturing and testing technologies such as mechanical processing, metal forming, welding, heat treatment, and special inspection and testing into a complex process system.

Turning parts into components and then further integrating them into assemblies involves a large amount of cross - cooperation of processing, welding, assembly and special processes. It not only depends on equipment capabilities, but also more on process experience and personnel collaboration. Many parameters, seemingly small, such as processing speed, feed rate, tooling force, welding temperature, welding wire material, etc., actually directly affect the final quality.

Many capabilities are "know - how" formed through long - term accumulation and cannot be solved simply by equipment procurement. We have currently precipitated nearly 20 sets of standardized process flows and hope to further systemize and standardize these experiences.

Investor's view

E Shikun, the founding partner of Dancheng Capital, said that he is very honored to be the exclusive investor in the first round of Sichuang Aerospace. As the only private enterprise in China that can provide one - stop services for core parts of aerospace engines, Sichuang Aerospace has demonstrated super - strong R & D and manufacturing capabilities and has served leading enterprises such as Galaxy Power and Interstellar Glory. Elon Musk once said, "Design is easy, production is difficult; making a prototype is simple, but achieving large - scale mass production is a hundred times more difficult." Sichuang Aerospace is a typical enterprise in China's commercial aerospace industry moving from aerospace engineering to aerospace industry. In the future, it will help more rocket and satellite enterprises enter the era of high - frequency, low - cost and stable launches, and also promote the Chinese commercial aerospace industry chain to move from "upper - level narrative" to "bottom - level manufacturing capabilities".