Suborbital rockets: Hyperbola-1S and Hyperbola-1Z
The Hyperbola-1S (also called SQX-1S),[8] and the Hyperbola-1Z (also called SQX-1Z),[9] are single stage, solid-propellant suborbital test rockets. The Hyperbola-1S rocket was 8.4 m long, with a diameter of 1 m and weighed 4.6 tonne. The Hyperbola-1Z rocket has a diameter of about 1.4 m, maximum design speed of 1.6 km/s and can reach altitude of 175 km on a suborbital trajectory.[8]
The first sub-orbital test flight of Hyperbola-1S took place from Hainan island on 5 April 2018 to an altitude of 108 km.[10][7][4]
The second flight of i-Space was a commercial sub-orbital flight launched on 5 September 2018 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, using the Hyperbola-1Z rocket. The sub-orbital flight reached an altitude of 108 km and a peak velocity of over 1200 m/s.[11] It carried payloads from private Chinese satellite companies ZeroG Labs and ADA-space. The rocket delivered three CubeSat satellites one of which subsequently parachuted back to Earth.[12]
Hyperbola-1
The Hyperbola-1 (aka Shuangquxian-1, SQX-1) (Chinese: 双曲线一号) rocket is 20.8 m tall, 1.4 m in diameter and weighs 31 tonne. It consists of four all solid fuel stages, guided by liquid fuel attitude control engines.[13] It can launch 300 kg into low Earth orbit (LEO).[11] The rocket might be based on Chinese military missiles (perhaps DF-11 or DF-15).[14] The first stage of the rocket is equipped with four grid fins.[13] The launch price is reported around US$5 million.[15]
Its successful maiden flight was on 25 July 2019, at 05:00 UTC from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.[16]
Hyperbola-2
The Hyperbola-2 (Chinese: 双曲线二号) is a two-stage, liquid-fueled, reusable rocket designed to lift 1.9 tons into LEO. It features the JD-1 engine which employs methane as fuel and liquid oxygen as the oxidizer. The first stage is expected to land propulsively in order to be reused.[13] The rocket's JD-1 engine had its first hot fire test in May 2020.[27] As of July 2022, the first launch was expected to occur in 2023 following a series of first stage hop tests.[28] In July 2023 i-Space announced that it has decided to suspend further development of the Hyperbola-2 launcher and instead directly proceed with the development of the reusable medium-lift Hyperbola-3 rocket.[29]
Hyperbola-3
The Hyperbola-3 is a 69-metre tall, two-stage, liquid-fueled, partially reusable rocket; it is designed to lift at least 8.5 tons into LEO in reusable mode and 13.4 tons in expendable mode. The rocket uses nine JD-2 engines, which use methane as fuel and liquid oxygen as the oxidizer. i-Space is targeting a first flight of the expendable Hyperbola-3 for 2025, while an attempt at first-stage vertical landing and recovery is slated for 2026; a heavy-lift 3-core variant named the Hyperbola-3B is also planned by the company.[29]
On 2 November 2023, i Space performed a VTVL test of Hyperbola 3 and its JD 2 engine. The test article reached a maximum height of 178.42 m during the 51 second long flight.[29]
A second successful test of the Hyperbola-2Y test vehicle took place on 10 December 2023 with the stage reaching a height of about 343 metres and translating a horizontal distance of about 50 metres after its 63 second flight.[30]
On 5 August 2025, I-Space revealed the completed drone-ship for Hyperbola 3. Similar to SpaceX's drone-ships, this autonomous ship will be the landing barge for I-Space's reusable Hyperbola 3 rocket.
