On September 8th, Beijing has produced another commercial aerospace unicorn!

Recently, Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as 'Interstellar Glory') has completed a RMB 0.7 billion Series C and C+ financing round, led by New Horizon Capital and Sichuan Industrial Revitalization Fund Investment Group Co., Ltd. (referred to as 'Sichuan Industry Fund').

The reporter of 'Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily' noticed that Interstellar Glory has completed 11 financing rounds so far. The investment by Sichuan Industry Fund in this round may be related to Interstellar Glory's plan to establish a rocket engine test stand in Mianyang, Sichuan.

In addition, its headquarters in Yizhuang, Beijing, has gathered many leading commercial aerospace companies. Currently, 75% of privately-owned rocket companies in China are concentrated in Yizhuang, Beijing, making it a hub for commercial aerospace in China.

Adhering to the 'solid-liquid dual' technical route

Interstellar Glory was established in October 2016 and is committed to the research and development of commercial launch vehicles and providing systematic launch solutions to global commercial aerospace customers.

According to its official website, Interstellar Glory's main products include small solid launch vehicles (Hyperbola-1), reusable liquid launch vehicles (Hyperbola-2), and suborbital concept aircraft. Among them, the Hyperbola-1 launch vehicle is a four-stage small solid launch vehicle.

Since its establishment, Interstellar Glory has established a development strategy of 'from solid to liquid, from small to large, both solid and liquid, taking small steps and running fast, iterating quickly, and evolving continuously'. In 2019, the Hyperbola-1A was successfully launched, becoming the first commercial rocket in China's private aerospace sector to successfully enter orbit, making the company one of the most socially and capitalistically recognized commercial rocket enterprises.

However, after 2021, the Hyperbola-1A suffered three consecutive launch failures, temporarily affecting its development pace.

By the end of 2023, Interstellar Glory successfully demonstrated reusable rocket technology and completed the 'Hyperbola-1A launch mission'.

Chairman Peng Xiaobo of Interstellar Glory graduated from Beihang University (Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics). Since 1994, Peng Xiaobo has worked at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, serving as the director of the Launch Vehicle System Design Department and deputy director of the General Design Department of the Launch Vehicle System Design Department, participating in the design and development of the Long March series of rockets among other projects.

Around 2015-2016, the domestic commercial aerospace industry was in its infancy, giving rise to many emerging companies in stages such as commercial satellite manufacturing, commercial rocket manufacturing, and downstream aerospace product applications. Interstellar Glory was founded during this period.

In 2018, Peng Xiaobo joined Interstellar Glory.

Data from the Caishilain Social Venture Capital Pass shows that Beijing Yizhuang is building a highland for the commercial aerospace industry. As of now, Interstellar Glory has completed 11 rounds of financing, with a total financing amount exceeding 1.8 billion yuan, and has received investments from many renowned institutions.

For example, in terms of state-owned assets, including Financial Street Holdings' Capital Operation Center, Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Fund, and brokerage-backed funds such as China International Capital Corporation and China Merchants Securities; from market-oriented investment institutions, including CICC Capital, IDG Capital, Sequoia Capital China, DHVC, and other top institutions.

One of the lead investors in this round, Sichuan Industrial Fund, is a national-level corporate investment fund approved by the State Council and established in May 2011 by the National Development and Reform Commission. In July of the same year, it was licensed and operated by the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government. It has now transformed into a comprehensive investment group that integrates fund investment, technology and innovation industries, and asset management.

As of the end of 2023, Sichuan Industrial Fund has 31 directly-managed companies with approximately 5,000 employees, a registered capital of 7.018 billion yuan, total assets exceeding 20 billion yuan, and a fund under management of over 70 billion yuan.

According to CLS Venture Connect, Sichuan Industrial Fund manages 53 funds, including Meishan Tianfu New Area Hantian Industrial Equity Investment Center, Meishan Xingxin Zhenxing Electronic Information Industry Equity Investment Center, Chengdu Xingronghe Equity Investment Fund Management Partnership Enterprise, etc. It has invested in 61 publicly disclosed investment events, including Lingxian Technology, Sichuan New Energy Power, Lithium Bai New Materials, Tiancheng Electric Science, and other high-tech enterprises.

Currently, Stellar Glory is building a rocket engine test stand in Mianyang, which is expected to be completed and put into operation in the third quarter of this year. Next, the company plans to relocate the rocket engine production line to Mianyang.

The other lead investor in this round, New Horizon Capital, was established in 2015 and mainly invests in fields such as biomedicine, new energy vehicles, chip semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and commercial aerospace. Currently, New Horizon Capital has registered fund investments of over 9 billion yuan and has invested in more than 80 projects.

Data shows that New Horizon Capital has been involved in 108 external investment events in the field of commercial aerospace, including Stellar Glory, Yuanxin Satellite, East Space, Shanghai Gethink Aerospace, etc.

The Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily noted that since the beginning of this year, the leading unicorns in the commercial aerospace sector that have received financing also include East Space, Deep Blue Aerospace, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Tianbing Technology, and others. An investor told the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that this industry has characteristics such as high investment, high risk, high return, and long cycle, and requires continuous investment of large amounts of research and development funds. However, the development cycle of rockets is long, for example, the development of large liquid rocket engines takes about 10 years, and even after the successful first flight of the rocket, it takes some time to become profitable, so it urgently needs patient capital for long-term support.

It is worth mentioning that in the Zhongguancun Science City in Beijing, where Stellar Glory is located, a unique "Rocket Block" has quietly emerged. In addition to Stellar Glory, it is also home to other star unicorns such as LandSpace Aerospace, Xinghe Power, and East Space.

Earlier this year, Beijing's Zhongguancun released measures to build a globally influential commercial aviation industry hub. It mentioned that by 2028, Zhongguancun's commercial aviation industry will achieve the first reusable rocket launch, recovery, and reuse, and form the capability for low-cost and high-reliability satellite launch products and large-scale satellite constellation construction and operation. At the same time, it will also build and put into operation the aerospace district and the "Beijing Rocket Street" featured park, forming a 50 billion-level commercial aviation industry cluster.