Commercial launch providers shortlisted for Chinas low-cost cargo spacecraft
HELSINKI - China is expanding the role of its commercial rocket companies by shortlisting four such entities for launches of a new space station cargo transport system.
Launch firms Galactic Energy, CAS Space, OrienSpace and Landspace were shortlisted to launch the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft, following the launch of a prototype of the supply vessel March 30. The four were named in a public notice posted to China's national tendering platform June 5, with the notice period closing June 9. The notice does not indicate the selection of a final provider.
The full scale Qingzhou cargo spacecraft is tentatively scheduled for launch in January 2027, subject to the final launch window, according to the tender information. The mission is intended to dock at Tiangong to provide supplies for the first time.
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Qingzhou is developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAMCAS), and is one of two low-cost space station resupply spacecraft being developed under a program initiated by China's human spaceflight agency, CMSEO, to support Tiangong. The prototype completed rendezvous tests in April.
The low-cost complement to the existing Tianzhou freighter series weighs approximately 5,000 kilograms with an uplink cargo capacity of at least 1,800 kg and downlink capacity of at least 2,600 kg, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The other spacecraft being developed under the program, named Haolong, being developed by AVIC's Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute, is a 10-meter-long, 7,000 kg reusable mini-shuttle design. Its prototype or first flight has yet to occur.
Currently, China relies on the existing 14,000-kg Tianzhou freighter, which launches on a Long March 7 rocket, to resupply the modular Tiangong space station. The most recent mission, Tianzhou-10, launched May 11.
The shortlisted companies' relevant launchers are in various stages of readiness. CAS Space's first Kinetica-2 launched the Qingzhou prototype in March, while Landspace's Zhuque-2E has flown five times, including a failure in August 2025, and most recently launching its first satellite for Spacesail's Qianfan project June 9, along with a China Mobile satellite. Galactic Energy is expected to conduct the first launch of its Pallas-1 rocket in the near future, with the rocket recently going vertical at the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Zone at Jiuquan spaceport in the Gobi Desert. Orienspace's Gravity-1 solid rocket is operational, while the liquid propulsion Gravity-2 could debut in October, according to an April report.
The move to establish low-cost cargo options along with plans to expand Tiangong signals broader ambitions in autonomous and scalable on-orbit operations, while the shortlisting of commercial firms suggests a growing role in China's national space development ambitions.
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