The capital enthusiasm for commercial space industry remains high, and Yushi Space has completed a new round of financing.

The commercial space race has once again attracted increased capital, and the field of low - cost and rapidly reusable liquid rockets is accelerating its rise.

Recently, Yushi Space, a developer and manufacturer of large - capacity, low - cost, and rapidly reusable liquid rockets, completed a Pre - A round of financing exceeding 100 million yuan. This round was led by Cornerstone Capital, with participation from Xingxiang Capital, Tuofeng Venture Capital, and Yinying Capital. The funds will be used for the development of the common - bulkhead propellant tank of the second stage of the AS - 1 rocket and the construction of the overall rocket assembly capacity.

Reporters from Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily noticed that Yushi Space's R & D base for reusable stainless - steel liquid launch vehicles has been established in Zhuzhou, Hunan, and construction has begun. After reaching full production capacity, it will be able to produce 8 rockets per year.

Focusing on Large - Capacity, Low - Cost, and Rapidly Reusable Liquid Rockets

Founded in 2024, Yushi Space focuses on the R & D and manufacturing of large - capacity, low - cost, and rapidly reusable liquid rockets, aiming to break through the current development bottlenecks of high prices and low production capacity in the commercial rocket industry.

According to public information, Yushi Space is currently the only domestic team that uses a stainless - steel rocket body combined with a "chopstick" capture arm recovery scheme. Its technical approach aims to achieve rapid rocket reuse.

Currently, the company's core product is the AS - 1 rocket. It is reported that the AS - 1 launch vehicle is a low - cost, two - stage medium - sized liquid rocket. It uses a stainless - steel structure + liquid oxygen methane power system and a capture arm for recovery and reuse, mainly targeting the launch market for low - and medium - orbit payloads. Its single - launch cost may be as low as 20,000 yuan per kilogram.

According to the relevant person in charge of Yushi Space, the second - stage rocket of the AS - 1 of Yushi Space has successfully completed the overall assembly and testing. The second - stage rocket for the first flight has now been transported to the test base and has officially entered the power system test phase.

Reusable liquid rockets are the core track of the commercial space industry and a key support for reducing space transportation costs and realizing large - scale space development.

In terms of technical approach, "stainless - steel rocket body + liquid oxygen methane power + recoverable" has become an industry consensus. The continuous iteration of SpaceX's Starship has verified the excellent performance of stainless - steel materials in high - and low - temperature environments and the advantages of liquid oxygen methane propellants, such as "low cost, easy availability, and less coking." Domestic enterprises have followed this technical approach, aiming to reduce the per - kilogram launch cost to less than 20,000 yuan.

Regarding the stainless - steel rocket body material used by Yushi Space, the industry has long verified it. Previously, Dai Zheng, the general commander of Zhuque - 3, told reporters from Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that after considering multiple factors such as materials, processing, and maintenance, Zhuque - 3 finally chose stainless steel as the main material for the rocket body. It is said that stainless steel has low raw material prices, large production volumes, and sufficient supply, and its high - temperature resistance is higher than that of aluminum alloys.

In the field of rapidly reusable liquid rockets, a pattern of multiple domestic enterprises competing has emerged. Leading enterprises occupy key positions in the track with their differentiated technical approaches and R & D progress, jointly promoting the improvement of the industrial ecosystem.

Among them, LandSpace is the core leading enterprise in the track. Its Zhuque - 3 launch vehicle made its first flight on December 3rd, marking a key breakthrough in China's reusable launch vehicle field.

Zhuque - 3 uses the world's first all - stainless - steel liquid oxygen methane rocket design, with a technical approach highly similar to that of SpaceX's Starship. Its goal is to reduce the per - kilogram launch cost to less than 20,000 yuan. Its first flight marks that the domestic stainless - steel recoverable rocket technology has entered the practical verification stage. LandSpace was founded in 2015 and successfully launched the world's first liquid oxygen methane rocket, Zhuque - 2, in 2023. It has mature R & D experience in power systems and rocket launch, with a first - mover advantage in the industry.

In addition, GalaxySpace, an established enterprise in the industry, has advantages in the field of solid rockets and is gradually expanding into the field of liquid recoverable rockets.

According to GalaxySpace, the Pallas - 1 is a medium - sized reusable liquid launch vehicle independently developed by GalaxySpace. It is one of the first batch of domestic liquid rockets to conduct orbital - level launch and recovery verification. This type of rocket consists of two liquid stages and an advanced upper stage. The rocket body diameter is 3.35m, the fairing diameter is 4.2m, the take - off mass is 283t, the take - off thrust is 350t, and it can be equipped with the Eros upper stage. The maximum low - orbit payload capacity is 7t. The first stage of the rocket can be vertically recovered, with a designed reuse frequency of 25 times. Currently, all large - scale ground tests of this type of rocket have been completed, and it is about to make its first flight before the Spring Festival.

The First Phase of the Zhuzhou Rocket R & D Base Will Be Delivered in Q2 Next Year

Tang Wen, the founder and CEO of Yushi Space, graduated from the School of Aerospace Engineering at Tsinghua University. He has 14 years of experience in the R & D of liquid rocket power and structures, and is proficient in liquid oxygen methane power and stainless - steel structures, laying the core foundation for Yushi Space's technical approach.

Tian Jichao, the co - founder and CTO, graduated from the School of Astronautics at Harbin Institute of Technology and has been deeply involved in the development of multiple liquid rocket models.

Currently, the team size of Yushi Space has expanded to over 120 people. The company is centered around its R & D team in Beijing, conducting rocket R & D and research on rocket capture and recovery technologies. It has also established a production and test base in Hebei and a production, R & D, assembly, and testing base in Hunan. These two bases will undertake the production, assembly, and testing of the first - flight rocket and the R & D and testing of the new - generation stainless - steel rockets.

It is understood that Yushi Space's R & D base for reusable stainless - steel liquid launch vehicles has been established in Zhuzhou, Hunan, and construction has begun. The base is divided into two phases. After reaching full production capacity, it will be able to produce 8 rockets per year, with an estimated annual output value of 2 billion yuan, fully covering the production and assembly of the AS - 1 rocket. According to the plan, the first phase of the Zhuzhou rocket R & D base will be delivered in Q2 next year.

Yushi Space's Pre - A round of financing exceeded 100 million yuan, which is the third round of financing it has completed in 2025. Previously, the company completed an angel round of financing of tens of millions of yuan in March and an angel + round of financing of nearly 100 million yuan in May. In just 9 months, the cumulative financing amount is nearly 300 million yuan. The investors include many professional institutions deeply involved in the commercial space field, such as Linhe Venture Capital, Tsinghua Alumni Seed Fund, and Huacang Capital. The intensive investment of capital highlights the high - growth potential of the track.

It is reported that Yushi Space's fourth round of financing is currently in progress.

Regarding this investment, a person from the investment team of Cornerstone Capital said that the maturity of recoverable rocket technology is the core prerequisite for the commercial feasibility of the commercial space industry, and "stainless steel + liquid oxygen methane" is the ultimate route comparable to SpaceX.

"Currently, this field is in a critical breakthrough period from 0 to 1, and a mature and stable commercial application paradigm has not yet been formed, leaving a rare opportunity window for start - up companies. Although start - up companies have relatively limited resources, the lack of historical burden of path dependence allows them to move forward lightly and quickly test and correct mistakes. And the breakthrough of this new technology precisely requires breakthrough thinking, the courage to move forward without fear of failure, and a flexible and efficient product iteration mechanism." The above - mentioned person from the investment team believes.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Venture Capital Daily", author: Li Mingming. Republished by 36Kr with permission.