China makes first successful private orbital rocket launch

BEIJING – A Beijing-based rocket developer sent two satellites into orbit Thursday, becoming China’s first private company to successfully complete an orbital launch, state media said.

The launch took place from a satellite centre in northwest China on Thursday afternoon, Xinhua state news agency reported.

Xinhua said the SQX-1 Y1, a four-stage small commercial carrier rocket, was developed by the firm i-Space.

i-Space said in a statement about the launch that it marked a “new chapter” for China’s private commercial space industry. “i-Space was formed in the era of the nation trying to become a space power,” the statement said.

China’s space program has developed rapidly. When it conducted its first crewed mission in 2003, it became the third country – behind just Russia and the U.S. – to put humans into space using its own technology.

Another Beijing-based firm, Landspace, attempted to deploy a private satellite-carrying rocket last October, but the rocket failed in its third stage. The second quarter profit was US$8 million higher than a year ago. On a per-share basis, the Dallas-based company said it earned $1.37, which was 2 cents higher than the average forecast from 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue was $5.91 billion, slightly below the analysts’ average forecast.

In trading before the market opened, shares were down $2.25, or 4%, to $52.45.