China's Private Space Industry Achieves Major Milestones with Liquid-Fueled Rockets

Space Pioneer, a Chinese private launch firm, has become the first to achieve orbit with a liquid propellant rocket. The Tianlong-2 lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, sending a small remote sensing experiment satellite into orbit. The successful launch marks a major milestone in the development of China’s commercial space sector, which is set to see more than 20 launches of private and commercially-developed rockets in 2023. Space Pioneer is also developing its own staged-combustion kerolox engines and is competing with other Chinese private and commercial launch firms.