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Founded in 2019, the CEO was actually the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Land Space. The name directly translates to "Sky Solider" or possibly "Heavenly Solider." Sadly, Space pioneer is also notorious for its failed static fire test in June of 2024, which has harmed all of China's commercial space sector. The company was certainly ambitious, but maybe too much so.
TianLong 2
TianLong 2
On April 2nd, 2023, Space Pioneer became the first company to launch a liquid-fueled commercial Chinese rocket to orbit.
Tian Long translates to "Sky Dragon" or better yet "Heavenly Dragon"
This rocket is completely expendable and features three "self made" engines, arranged in a triangle formation.
Tian Long 2 has only been launched once.
The Incident
The Incident
On June 30, 2024, during a planned static fire of the Tianlong 3 first stage. Due to poor designing / structural limits of the test stand, the first stage flew into the air and crash down.
The durability of the engine bay itself may also be to blame if it simply tore from the engine stand. This matches with the recent revisions to TL3.
New Information
New Information
After more than a year of radio silence, Space Pioneer finally releases new information about the progress on TianLong 3 on July 23. 2025. source
In the bottom right is the static test stand (not static fire) to verify the structural integrity of the engine bay. In the middle, you can see all the hold down clamps for the engine bay. There is an estimate 16 in total. They are also on the photo to the left, proving this engine bay has been installed already.
The two stages were connected together before May 24th, 2025. source
TL 3 Second Stage
TL 3 Second Stage
Arrived at Haiyang hot-fire test center. Seemingly no indication that it has been static fired.
"Static" Fire
"Static" Fire
On September 15th, 2025, Space Pioneer successfully static fired the first stage of Tian Long 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 .
Prior to the static fire, the nine engines performed gimballing tests. 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 (probably shutoff too late).
https://www.china-in-space.com/p/tianlong-3-successfully-performs
TianLong 3
TianLong 3
TianLong 3 has 9 in-house produced engines, which has endured countless single engine static fire tests.
The maiden flight was completed on April 3rd, 2026.
Space Pioneer can be described with its overly ambitious plans, which has backfired on them horribly. The expendable TianLong 2 has only been used once, seemingly to attract investors rather than gather data. Then, after "The Incident" all the investors would abandon the company, especially with the VTVL tests at Land Space and Deep Blue Aerospace a few months after the incident Space Pioneer currently has no VTVL tests.
TianLong 3 was supposed to have its first maiden launch in 2024 but the failed static fire has brought nothing but trouble for itself and the whole of Chinese commercial space companies. The only advantage Space Pioneer has left is its extensive testing of its own TH 12 engine. Perhaps this talent can be transferred to another company, such as Land Space? That would be a turn of fate.
Scratch that, Space Pioneer has rebounded and after the successful static fire of the first stage, they are now targeting the end of the year (earliest November, likely December) for the launch. Most likely after ZhuQue 3 goes first.
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