Alibaba to test rocket parcel delivery service in lofty attempt to ship goods anywhere in the world within an hour
- The rocket, designated XZY-1, will provide cargo space of 120 square metres, and has the ability to carry as much as 10 tonnes, including items like small trucks
- Rocket provider Space Epoch has completed three funding rounds of more than US$41.5 million, from investors that include GSR Vision Capital and Jinsha Capital
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding is partnering with a domestic rocket developer, with the lofty goal of delivering parcels anywhere in the world within an hour.
The experiment, to be co-conducted by Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace and Beijing-based start-up Space Epoch, will take place “in the near future” using a reusable rocket that can land on the sea, according to a Sunday post by Space Epoch on its official WeChat account.
Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, confirmed the information on Monday, saying that “many great endeavours seem like a joke at first”.
The rocket, designated XZY-1, will provide cargo space of 120 square metres, and has the ability to carry as much as 10 tonnes, including items like “a car or a small-sized lorry”, the Space Epoch post said.
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But the company admitted that it “won’t be easy to achieve the goal in the short term”. “This should be a great and significant exploration for a long term”, it said.
Alibaba has been improving its logistics services amid fierce competition at home and abroad. In March, it expanded its “five-day delivery” service to the United States, allowing buyers on the AliExpress e-commerce platform to receive orders within that period of time, with deliveries carried out by Alibaba’s logistics unit Cainiao Smart Logistics Network.
Cainiao launched the five-day delivery service last year, and has since enlarged the coverage to markets including Germany, France, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.
Founded in 2019, Space Epoch has a mission to use space resources with “safety, efficiency and sustainability”, developing recyclable rockets to meet “flight-like, civilian demands”, according to its past social media posts.
The start-up has completed three funding rounds of more than 300 million yuan (US$41.5 million). Investors included GSR Vision Capital and Jinsha Capital.
