THE NEW SPACE RACE: Chinese launch startup secures early funding for fully reusable rocket plane.

Nayuta Space is developing a series of stainless steel rockets named Black Bird, referring to a creature from Chinese mythology rather than the common blackbird. The Xuanniao-1 (Black Bird-1) will use nine Canglong-1 methane-liquid oxygen engines developed by Beijing Aerospace Propulsion Technology Co. Ltd., a commercial rocket engine maker founded in 2018.

The company aims, eventually, to achieve reusability of both stages. The first stage will, unlike the Falcon 9 for instance, not use a reentry burn, instead relying on “aerodynamic recovery,” using the atmosphere and positioning of the stage to do most of the deceleration. This is to save fuel otherwise used for the reentry burn, which on the Falcon 9 uses three Merlin engines for 20-30 seconds, depending on mission and landing specifics.

Nayuta Space also aims for a Starship chopstick-style catch of the first stage, called an “eagle grab,” thus saving mass through not needing landing legs. The company claims to be the first commercial company in China to develop aerodynamic recovery technology. Second stage recovery is a more distant goal.

The entire recovery field still belongs to SpaceX but that will change.