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.
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.
