36Kr exclusively learned that Beijing Traveler Manned Space Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Traveler") announced that it has completed a seed round of financing of millions of yuan, which is invested by Nanyue Aode, and this round of financing will be used for the detailed scheme design and team building of reusable manned spacecraft.
Internationally, the commercial manned space industry has developed rapidly, and in May 2020, the Dragon spacecraft carried out its first manned flight, sending two astronauts to the International Space Station, opening a new era of commercial manned spaceflight. Soon after, Branson, the founder of Virgin Galactic, and Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin, both went to space in their own spacecraft in 2021, and since then the first year of global commercial space tourism (suborbital). At present, both Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin have carried out commercial suborbital flights on a regular basis, of which Virgin Galactic has sold more than 800 ferry tickets.
In China, since 2015, when the state allowed private forces to join the aerospace track, China's commercial aerospace has flourished, and has experienced the 1.0 and 2.0 era of satellite commercialization and rocket commercialization, and the commercialization of manned spaceflight is about to usher in the 3.0 era, which is gradually becoming an important force in the construction of a space power.
Among them, space tourism is the only track that can be directly used in commercial spaceflight, and the emergence of reusable commercial manned spacecraft has greatly accelerated the process of people's exploration of space, and the wave of China's commercial manned spaceflight is coming, and China's space tourism is within reach.
In the context of the country's vigorous promotion of the development of new forms of space economy, compared with the traditional commercial aerospace based on 2B and 2G, the market demand of private manned spacecraft companies is more diversified, and it is a direct 2C industrial direction, with a longer market scale and development space, and is not limited by frequency, orbit position or operator.
"China's Aerospace in 2021" clearly proposes to cultivate and develop new economies such as space tourism in the next five years; In 2022, China's space station has been fully completed, and the rotation of Chinese astronauts in orbit has become the norm, and it will face high operating costs in the future.
Founded on January 11, 2023, Traverser is a commercial manned space technology enterprise integrating the development of reusable manned spacecraft and the operation of space tourism.
In terms of technical routes, the core technologies of the traverser include suborbital flight high-precision, high-comfort autonomous return control technology; Based on online trajectory planning algorithms such as high-thrust engines and artificial intelligence reinforcement learning, the spacecraft has highly reliable autonomous escape and safe return technology during the whole rocket launch. Based on the existing technology in China, the innovatively designed escape system can be recycled and reused, achieving a reusability rate of 99% of the spacecraft. Modular heat-resistant structure for quick replacement and maintenance, reusable rapid evaluation and qualification technology; Crew on-orbit life support technology and ground training based on complex human factors engineering, high-end aerospace experience services, etc.
In terms of product planning, the Traverser plans to realize the development and manned flight of a reusable commercial manned spacecraft in orbit in the 3rd to 4th year, the development and manned flight of a reusable commercial manned spacecraft in orbit in the 6th to 7th year, and the development and manned flight of a reusable commercial manned spacecraft in the 9th to 10th years.
In terms of cost calculation, the current planned ticket for the Traveler suborbital space tourism is 3 million yuan, and according to the spacecraft that can carry 7 people each time, the cost can be recovered after 6 flights.
Up to now, the traverser has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the domestic head commercial rocket company, and the two sides will jointly carry out the development and test verification of the suborbital manned system, the integration of ships and arrows to tackle key technical problems, jointly explore the new commercial model of commercial manned spaceflight and new aerospace technology, and promote the aerospace industry to truly enter the public.
In terms of team composition, the co-founders of Traverser Technology are all from the core backbone of spacecraft development of the national manned space system, and have rich experience in spacecraft design, development and actual combat. Lei Shiqing, founder and CEO of Traverser, graduated from the School of Journalism and Communication of Jinan University with a bachelor's degree, was a CCTV host and reporter, and became involved with manned spaceflight while studying for a postgraduate degree in the direction of human factors engineering at Chinese University.
"We think space tourism is the third possible hot track after low-orbit satellites and liquid rockets. In the context of the country's vigorous promotion of the development of new forms of space economy and the increasing demand for commercial manned spaceflight, domestic manned spacecraft-related talents are very scarce. For this round of financing, Zeng Jinxian, president of Nanyue Fund Group, said.
In Zeng Jinxian's view, the core technical personnel of the traverser company are all from the core backbone of the national manned space system, including the core backbone who have accumulated rich experience from Shen V to Shen XVI, which are used as the foundation for research and development to build the company's core moat.