A HUMANOID robot developed by Shenzhen-based EngineAI is set to be among the first group of tourists on board China’s first commercial spaceflight, scheduled to launch in 2028, commercial spaceflight firm InterstellOr said last week.

The mission will mark the country’s inaugural crewed commercial space trip. The CYZ1 spacecraft, developed by InterstellOr, represents China’s entry into the commercial crewed space market.

Founded in 2023, InterstellOr bills itself as China’s first firm focused on commercial manned space technology, with an emphasis on reusable vehicles and space tourism.

Other passengers announced for the inaugural CYZ1 flight include Li Licheng, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Qiu Heng, CMO of robotics startup AgiBot, Fu Zhekuan, director of board of QF Capital, Liu Baiqi, CEO of rocket firm Galactic Energy, and actor Huang Jingyu.

InterstellOr has begun advance ticket sales, pricing seats at 3 million yuan (about US$431,000) each, with a 10% deposit required to secure a seat. Total places available are just over 20.

On Jan. 18, Interstellor announced successful tests of the CYZ1 prototype’s landing buffer system. This milestone, according to the firm, makes it the world’s third commercial aerospace company to independently develop and validate this crucial technology for manned spacecraft.

InterstellOr aims to complete development of a reusable suborbital manned spacecraft within three to four years and begin offering commercial space tourism services across China and Asia around 2028.

Several other Chinese companies, such as CAS Space and Deep Blue Aerospace, are also pursuing space tourism by developing suborbital flights that approach the Kármán line — the widely recognized boundary of space, approximately 100 kilometers above Earth. In October 2024, Deep Blue Aerospace sold its first two suborbital tickets and announced plans for an inaugural passenger flight in 2027.

Space tourism remains a niche yet established sector. Blue Origin has been carrying paying passengers on suborbital missions since 2021, while Virgin Galactic completed its first commercial suborbital flight in 2023, with plans to expand operations from 2026 onward.

SpaceX currently stands as the only company offering orbital missions to private individuals, with flights lasting several days — a model that is both more complex and more costly than suborbital tourism. (Claudia Wei)