Space Pioneer

Tianlong-1

Tianlong-1 is a kerosene-liquid oxygen (kerolox) fueled vehicle using the Tianhuo-3 engine, with a payload capacity to low Earth orbit exceeding 3 t.[4]

Tianlong-2

Tianlong-2, another launch vehicle designed by the company, entered service in early 2023.[6] It is 32.8m tall, and it can lift up to 2t to LEO and 1.5t to 500km SSO.[7] The maiden flight of Tianlong-2 took place on 2 April 2023, successfully carrying the Jinta cubesat from Hunan Hangsheng Satellite Technology to a Sun-synchronous orbit. This mission represented the first successful launch of a Chinese privately funded, liquid-fueled, kerolox rocket with Space Pioneer becoming the first startup company to reach orbit on its maiden attempt.[8]

Tianlong-3

Tianlong-3 is a two-stage kerolox launch vehicle with a reusable first stage that is currently under development. It is designed to lift about 17t to LEO and 14t to 500km SSO, comparable to SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle. As of November 2023, the first launch is scheduled for June 2024, with two more launches planned before the end of 2024.

On 30 June 2024, a Tianlong-3 first stage rocket detached from its stand during a static fire test due to a structural failure, resulting in an unintentional launch.[9][10][11] The rocket landed and exploded in the mountains 1.5 km southwest of the test site in Gongyi, China, and no casualties were reported.[12]

On 15 September 2025, Space Pioneer successfully static fired the first stage of Tianlong 3. More than a year after the unsuccessful June 2024 static fire, Space Pioneer has implemented 127 corrective measures, including doubling the amount of hold down arms.[13] The test was performed on the HOS-1 sea launch platform of Haiyang Space Port, likely to prevent any potential danger to civilians were the first stage to detach again. Prior to the static fire, the nine engines performed gimballing tests.[14] In total, the static fire lasted for approximately 30 seconds. The black smoke at the end can be attributed to excess kerosene at engine shutoff.[15]

Space Pioneer is targeting October to put Tianlong 3 on the pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The launch will later be conducted in November or December.[16]

Engines

Space Pioneer's engine series are designated as Tianhuo (Sky Fire). Early concepts include Tianhuo-1 (TH-1), the initial Space Pioneer rocket engine, with hot-fire ground testing completed before 2020.[3] Tianhuo-2 (TH-2) was developed subsequent to Tianhuo-1, with the first hot fire test of the engine in early 2020.[2][3] Tianhuo-3 (TH-3) is a kerolox liquid-bipropellant rocket engine with 30 tf of thrust. It is intended to be the main engine for the Tianlong-1 launch vehicle.[2] The engine had its first hot-fire test in December 2020, with a 50-second duration ground test run.[17]

Space Pioneer later re-designated TH-3 as TH-11, which successfully powered the second stage of the Tianlong-2 rocket. A larger, 100 tf class TH-12 engine is in development for its upcoming Tianlong-3 launch vehicle.