Chinese private rocket to launch in Jiuquan this month

China's carrier rocket designed by a private enterprise, One-Space Technology, is set to be launched in early this month at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province. This is the first time for China's national launching center to launch a private rocket, reports Chongqing Morning Post.

OS-X suborbital rocket designed by One-Space Technology roars into the sky at an unknown test base in northwestern China on May 17, 2018. [Photo: VCG]

Earlier in May, One-Space Technology launched a self-designed rocket at a test base in northwestern China. Together, with the upcoming ready-to-launch rocket, the two private rockets are marking the first step of China's civil-military integration into the rocket industry.

Shu Chang, CEO of One-Space Technology, said the two OS-X series suborbital rockets are both named "The Stars of Chongqing Liangjiang", and the manufacture of the two rockets has adopted the latest R&D mode that has specifically assigned critical problems to different research teams.

In addition, the integration of civilian and military contributions will create competition in the rocket industry and significantly cut down on the expense for rocket manufacturing. The rockets are also being used for commercial purposes, so costs are expected to be offset by revenue paid for by private industries.

It's also reported that the designers and engineers of the research teams have mostly been born in the 1990s.