Deep Blue Aerospace

Jiangsu Deep Blue Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd.
Founded	2016
Founder	Huo Liang
Website	http://www.dbaspace.com/about.html

Jiangsu Deep Blue Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 深蓝航天; lit. 'Deep Blue Aerospace') is a private space launch enterprise founded in November 2016 by Huo Liang.^[1] The company is located in Jiangsu province on the East coast of China. It is engaged in the development of reusable rockets.^[2]

Nebula-1

The company is developing the medium-class orbital launch vehicle “Nebula-1.” The rocket will use the 20-ton-thrust kerolox engine named Leiting-20.^[1]^[3]

On October 13th, 2021, Deep Blue completed a 100-meter level launch and landing test with its Nebula M1 VTVL test stage.^[4]

In January 2022, the company secured nearly $31.5 million in funding.^[5]^[6]^[7] On April 19, the company announced a new round of funding led by CMBC International Holdings, which will be put towards developing the Nebula-1, the "Thunder" engine series, and other manufacturing processes.^[8]^[9] The amount raised was not disclosed.^[8]

On May 6, 2022, the Nebula M1 completed a one kilometer test, that included a vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTVL) above Tongchuan, Shaanxi Providence.^[1]

On September 22, 2024, Deep Blue conducted a 10km VTVL hop test, which featured the first flight of the Thunder-R kerosene-liquid oxygen engines (three of them on this flight). The test ended with a hard landing, completing 10 of the 11 objectives. ^[10]

In 2022, the first orbital launch and recovery of the Nebula-1 was planned for late 2024.^[1]^[11] It's now planned for mid-2025.^[12]

Between July 28th and August 2nd 2025, Chinese aerospace fans found evidence that Deep Blue likely conducted the fourth VTVL test for Nebula 1. The second VTVL test article has been sitting at the test pad since January 2025.^[13] From satellite imagery, there is a noticeable sign of a explosion / fire close to the Deep Blue's launch site at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center compared to satellite imagery on July 28.^[14]

Nebula-2

Nebula-2 is a medium to heavy-lift liquid-fueled rocket powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene capable of lifting 20,000 kg of payload into LEO. The rocket was planned to be launched in late 2025.^[15] It's now expected to deliver 25,000 kg of payload to the same orbit and planned for 2026.^[12]

Competition

Deep Blue Aerospace is in competition with several other Chinese rocket launcher startups including Galactic Energy, LandSpace, i-Space, Space Pioneer, LinkSpace, ExPace, OneSpace, and Orienspace.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Jones, Andrew (2022-05-07). "Deep Blue Aerospace completes kilometer-level rocket launch and landing test". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
^ "About us – Introduction". Deep Blue Aerospace – 深蓝航天. dbaspace.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2022. Headquartered in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, Deep Blue Aerospace has rocket technology and liquid engine research and development centers in Beijing Yizhuang and Xi'an, Shanxi Province, respectively. It has a manufacturing and testing base of rocket power system in Tongchuan, Shanxi Province.
^ Jones, Andrew (2022-01-31). "China's Deep Blue Aerospace targets big national, commercial launch opportunities". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
^ "Deep Blue Aerospace conducts 100-meter VTVL rocket test". 13 October 2021.
^ "China's Deep Blue Aerospace targets big national, commercial launch opportunities". 31 January 2022.
^ "#SpaceWatchGL Column: Dongfang Hour China Aerospace News Roundup 24 – 30 January 2022". 31 January 2022.
^ "瞄准"可回收复用火箭" 深蓝航天完成A轮融资近2亿元".
^ ^a ^b Jones, Andrew (2022-04-22). "Chinese reusable rocket startup secures new funding round". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
^ "Deep Blue Aerospace announced the completion of the A+ round of financing to accelerate the construction of 3D printing technology and related infrastructure". inews. 2022-09-13.
^ Deep Blue Aerospace hop test suffers anomaly moments before landing. Sept 2024
^ China 'N Asia Spaceflight [@CNSpaceflight] (18 October 2022). "DeepBlue Aerospace now plans the first orbital launch and landing of Nebula-1 by end of 2024" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 October 2022 – via Twitter.
^ ^a ^b Andrew Jones (10 March 2025). "Deep Blue Aerospace raises new funds, targets mid-year orbital launch". SpaceNews.
^ "Ace of Razgriz on X: The second hopper of Deep blue aerospace has arrived launch site a month ago(First one crashed at the last moment when landing). Could expect the VTVL test after spring festival". X. January 6, 2025. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
^ Congram, Jack (August 6, 2025). "Rocket Boat, Rocket Crash, Rocket Buildings: China in Space". China in Space. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
^ Bell, Adrian (18 April 2024). "China Roundup: ZhuQue-3 moves left, Tianlong-3 gets engines, and Chang Zheng rockets launch". nasaspaceflight. Retrieved 18 April 2024.

External links

Official Website

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[:0-1] Jones, Andrew (2022-05-07). "Deep Blue Aerospace completes kilometer-level rocket launch and landing test". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2022-08-30.

[about-2] "About us – Introduction". Deep Blue Aerospace – 深蓝航天. dbaspace.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2022. Headquartered in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, Deep Blue Aerospace has rocket technology and liquid engine research and development centers in Beijing Yizhuang and Xi'an, Shanxi Province, respectively. It has a manufacturing and testing base of rocket power system in Tongchuan, Shanxi Province.

[3] Jones, Andrew (2022-01-31). "China's Deep Blue Aerospace targets big national, commercial launch opportunities". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2023-11-21.

[4] "Deep Blue Aerospace conducts 100-meter VTVL rocket test". 13 October 2021.

[5] "China's Deep Blue Aerospace targets big national, commercial launch opportunities". 31 January 2022.

[6] "#SpaceWatchGL Column: Dongfang Hour China Aerospace News Roundup 24 – 30 January 2022". 31 January 2022.

[7] "瞄准"可回收复用火箭" 深蓝航天完成A轮融资近2亿元".

[:1-8] Jones, Andrew (2022-04-22). "Chinese reusable rocket startup secures new funding round". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2022-09-13.

[9] "Deep Blue Aerospace announced the completion of the A+ round of financing to accelerate the construction of 3D printing technology and related infrastructure". inews. 2022-09-13.

[10] Deep Blue Aerospace hop test suffers anomaly moments before landing. Sept 2024

[11] China 'N Asia Spaceflight [@CNSpaceflight] (18 October 2022). "DeepBlue Aerospace now plans the first orbital launch and landing of Nebula-1 by end of 2024" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 October 2022 – via Twitter.

[SN-12] Andrew Jones (10 March 2025). "Deep Blue Aerospace raises new funds, targets mid-year orbital launch". SpaceNews.

[13] "Ace of Razgriz on X: The second hopper of Deep blue aerospace has arrived launch site a month ago(First one crashed at the last moment when landing). Could expect the VTVL test after spring festival". X. January 6, 2025. Retrieved September 20, 2025.

[14] Congram, Jack (August 6, 2025). "Rocket Boat, Rocket Crash, Rocket Buildings: China in Space". China in Space. Retrieved September 20, 2025.

[15] Bell, Adrian (18 April 2024). "China Roundup: ZhuQue-3 moves left, Tianlong-3 gets engines, and Chang Zheng rockets launch". nasaspaceflight. Retrieved 18 April 2024.

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v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Eris^† Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 6C 7 7A 8 11 11H 12 LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C New Glenn Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB Spectrum^† SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2E
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Blue Whale 1 Ceres-2 Cyclone-4M Deca Eclipse Epsilon S Gravity-2 HANBIT-NANO Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kinetica 2 2H 3 KSLV-III Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Miura 5 Neutron New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf RFA One SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIA H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 2-1v Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 RS1^† Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^† 2
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)