"interstellOr" Completes Angel + Round Financing Worth Tens of Millions of Yuan, and the Production of China's First Manned Spaceship Test Vessel Accelerates | Exclusive Report by Hard Krypton

Author | Zhang Yujie

Editor | Peng Xiaoqiu

Yingke has learned that recently, Beijing interstellOr  Human Spaceflight Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "interstellOr ") has completed a multi - million - yuan Angel + round of financing. This round of financing was jointly invested by Zhongtian Huifu and Binfu Capital. The funds will be used to accelerate the engineering development of the interstellOr  No. 1 (CYZ1) sub - orbital manned spacecraft and the production of the first test ship.

interstellOr  was established on January 11, 2023. It is a commercial manned space technology enterprise that integrates the development of reusable manned spacecraft and the operation of space tourism. Only six months have passed since the last round of financing. During this period, interstellOr  has achieved several key technological breakthroughs, including China's first ground verification test of the active thermal protection technology for manned spacecraft, which has broken through the bottleneck of the non - reusable traditional thermal protection technology for manned spacecraft; developed an intelligent flight control computer for manned spacecraft; and completed the software - hardware matching test of the computer and the improved prediction - correction guidance algorithm.

Ground verification experiment of the active thermal protection technology for interstellOr 's manned spacecraft

Currently, interstellOr  is focusing on the research and development of the CYZ1 sub - orbital manned spacecraft. The CYZ1 manned spacecraft is the first domestically designed manned spacecraft aiming for full reusability. Based on the research and development of the partial reusability of the return capsule of China's Shenzhou spacecraft and the new - generation spacecraft, centered on user experience and absorbing excellent foreign design concepts, through innovative spacecraft configuration design and the reusable design of key systems such as escape, structure, and recovery, 99% of the spacecraft's mass can be reused.

At the same time, the CYZ1 will also be the first domestically developed manned spacecraft using advanced push - type escape technology and the world's first blunt - body manned spacecraft capable of high - precision return within a hundred - meter range and damage - free landing and recovery. Compared with the only benchmark in this field, the "New Shepard" spacecraft of Blue Origin in the United States, it has a larger in - cabin flight space, higher landing point accuracy, and a longer flight experience, and can be used for both manned and cargo transportation.

interstellOr  No. 1 (CYZ1) sub - orbital manned spacecraft

Currently, interstellOr  is conducting key technological research. It plans to carry out the first full - scale landing buffer test of a manned spacecraft in China's commercial space field in the second half of this year, focusing on breaking through the damage - free landing technology for manned spacecraft, verifying the effectiveness of the landing system design, and creating an ultimate "cloud - like landing" experience; conduct a zero - altitude escape test of the manned spacecraft to verify the overall plan of the manned spacecraft and the key escape and rescue technologies; further deepen the strategic cooperation with leading domestic commercial rocket companies and carry out joint research on the integration technology of the spacecraft and the rocket; at the same time, establish a space tourist club community and start building a series of ground experience projects, including space health care and space training, to create the "Disney" of the space industry.

Lei Shiqing, the founder and CEO of interstellOr , said: "The completion of this round of financing coincides with the full entry of China's manned lunar exploration project into the preliminary prototype development stage. interstellOr  will seize this strategic opportunity to accelerate the achievement of the key goals of the zero - altitude escape test of the spacecraft in 2026, the unmanned sub - orbital flight in 2027, and the first commercial manned flight in 2028.

China's new - generation manned space transportation vehicle "Mengzhou"

Views of the investors:

Chen Yu, a partner of Binfu Capital believes that as the core spacecraft for humans to travel to and from space, the manned spacecraft bears the ultimate dream and mission of exploring the universe, and the derived space tourism track is showing a vast blue ocean market worth hundreds of billions. interstellOr  is currently a scarce comprehensive team in China with the full - chain capabilities of commercial manned spacecraft, mastering the complete closed - loop capabilities from product definition, R & D to commercial operation. It is a pioneer and system builder in this field in China. With the accelerated development of the space economy, more people will enter space. The scarce value and first - mover advantage of the interstellOr  team will become increasingly prominent, and it is expected to further develop the market value of manned commercial space and rapidly promote the commercialization process.

Wu Jianfeng, a partner of Zhongtian Huifu believes that the commercial space industry, as a trillion - level track, is driving the space economy into an explosive period. As the first domestic commercial space enterprise integrating the engineering development of reusable manned spacecraft, interstellOr  is reconstructing China's global competitiveness in commercial space through technological innovation and the full - link ecological layout of space tourism. The composite team led by the founder Lei Shiqing has constructed a closed - loop growth model of "technological breakthrough - scenario implementation - ecological extension". The company uses reusable technology to match the economic advantages of SpaceX's Starship, competes with Blue Origin in sub - orbital tourism with differentiation, and relies on Oriental wisdom to promote China's commercial manned space industry to the international forefront, opening a new era of low - cost and regular space tourism.