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”.
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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.
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.
Last week, Cainiao said it will double the year-end bonus for all employees in the next financial year, a move that is expected to help boost staff morale after parent Alibaba scrapped plans for the unit’s initial public offering.
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.
