Pseudo-private rocket company in China raises $200 million from Chinese investors
The Chinese pseudo-private rocket company Galactic Energy has successfully raised $200 million from a number of Chinese investors, money that the company will use to develop a mid-size rocket with a reusable first stage.
Though the company is not directly funded by the Chinese government, it is not an independent private company, which is why I label it “pseudo.” Everything it does is closely supervised and approved by the communist government. Also, some of this investment money apparently came from “state-backed investment vehicles,” which in plain language are fronts used by the government to funnel funding to these companies while maintaining the false appearance the companies are entirely private.
The fake nature of this charade has apparently influenced the decisions of real investors:
Incomplete information on funding in China’s emerging commercial space sector suggested that overall investment was lagging just over halfway through 2021, concentrating in fewer players.
It appears that no one outside China is willing to put money behind these companies, and even within China there is hesitancy.
Nonetheless, by letting many such competing operations that can also make profits for investors, China is successfully encouraging some innovation. That Galactic Energy — as well as several others — are planning on building reusable rockets is evidence of that.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The Chinese pseudo-private rocket company Galactic Energy has successfully raised $200 million from a number of Chinese investors, money that the company will use to develop a mid-size rocket with a reusable first stage.
Though the company is not directly funded by the Chinese government, it is not an independent private company, which is why I label it “pseudo.” Everything it does is closely supervised and approved by the communist government. Also, some of this investment money apparently came from “state-backed investment vehicles,” which in plain language are fronts used by the government to funnel funding to these companies while maintaining the false appearance the companies are entirely private.
The fake nature of this charade has apparently influenced the decisions of real investors:
Incomplete information on funding in China’s emerging commercial space sector suggested that overall investment was lagging just over halfway through 2021, concentrating in fewer players.
It appears that no one outside China is willing to put money behind these companies, and even within China there is hesitancy.
Nonetheless, by letting many such competing operations that can also make profits for investors, China is successfully encouraging some innovation. That Galactic Energy — as well as several others — are planning on building reusable rockets is evidence of that.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
“Though the company is not directly funded by the Chinese government, it is not an independent private company, which is why I label it “pseudo.” Everything it does is closely supervised and approved by the communist government.”
Doesn’t NASA help to finance private firms through awarding contracts? The need for private US firms to get approval from many levels of local, state and federal in order to do business certainly exercises a good bit of control and expense to firms like SpaceX.
Gary H: Private companies in the U.S. are not owned or controlled by the government. They obviously have to obey regulations, but they own their rockets, and can sell their services to pretty much anyone but China (which a law forbids). They can also develop projects that the government doesn’t necessarily want or like.
The Chinese companies might have private owners and operators, but those individuals take their orders from the government, and wouldn’t dare do anything the government disagrees with. They also can be taken over entirely by the state at any time. Their ownership rights are really nil.
These differences are not trivial.
Isn’t it sad that when the government purchases goods or services many people conclude it is funding or subsidizing that company. When someone buys a Big Mac, did that person fund McDonalds? There once was a time when commerce was commerce, not investment or handout.
China set to get some gains from Biden’s acts of Treason against America