This round of funding will be primarily used for talent team development, accelerating the engineering development of the "Spark-1" all-carbon-fiber rocket and the "Blaze-1" full-flow LOX/methane engine, as well as the production of 3.8-meter-class carbon-fiber tanks and core engine components.
Figure: Use of funds in this round
As of June 2026, WeLight's team has grown to 80 members, with R&D personnel accounting for over 75%. According to the plan, the team will expand to 130 people by the end of 2026, with phased talent acquisition to build core capabilities for subsequent engineering delivery and mass production. This high-density, high-intensity technical team is becoming a solid foundation for the company's rapid iteration and next-generation innovation.
Figure: R&D personnel ratio as of June 2026
WeLight's independently developed "Spark-1" medium-lift liquid launch vehicle is the world's first rocket to integrate "carbon-fiber composites + full-flow staged combustion cycle propulsion + LOX/methane" as its three core technologies. The application of carbon-fiber materials is fundamentally transforming rocket production logic.
Traditional metal tank manufacturing is time-consuming and costly, while WeLight's T800-grade all-carbon-fiber liner-free solution achieves 30% structural weight reduction, 90% shorter production cycle, and costs roughly 70% of traditional materials. This "better, faster, cheaper" manufacturing model directly addresses the core pain point of "cost and efficiency" in commercial space.
Figure: LOX/methane carbon-fiber tank
In terms of core propulsion, WeLight's "Blaze-1" full-flow LOX/methane staged combustion cycle engine carries the most ambitious dream in China's commercial space sector. It ensures every gram of propellant fulfills its mission in the combustion chamber — oxygen-rich pre-burner and fuel-rich pre-burner working in parallel, with no mass wasted. With breakthrough chamber pressure and significantly improved specific impulse, it delivers more payload to higher orbits at the same weight, becoming a key technology for enabling high-frequency, low-cost recovery and reuse of rockets. The engine has already completed core component development and liquid flow tests and other verifications.
In the second half of 2026
WeLight will go all out on three key missions
This financing round will also accelerate WeLight's full-chain implementation from R&D to manufacturing and testing. WeLight has already established a strategic framework of "one headquarters, three R&D centers, and three bases":
Figure: WeLight's strategic layout of "one headquarters, three R&D centers, and three bases"
With Beijing as the operations headquarters and core R&D hub, and R&D centers established in Xi'an, Shaanxi and Changsha, Hunan, focusing on propulsion system development.
Figure: Xi'an R&D Center actual photo
In Changde, Hunan, the first commercial-space full-flow LOX/methane engine test base is being established, capable of high-performance testing at chamber pressures above 30 MPa.
In Rizhao, Shandong, a carbon-fiber composite rocket structural component manufacturing headquarters base is being established to undertake large-scale tank and core component production. Upon full completion, the base will have an annual production capacity of 100 units. Meanwhile, a pilot production base is operating in Hejian, Hebei.
Figure: Rizhao, Shandong Manufacturing Base | Design aerial view
Figure: Rizhao, Shandong Manufacturing Base construction site
Figure: Rizhao, Shandong & Hejian, Hebei Manufacturing Bases｜Autoclave
Investors in this round commented:
"WeLight's combination of technological originality + cost controllability + industrial feasibility is extremely rare and valuable among current private commercial space companies." With the nine-figure funding in place, WeLight is accelerating its transition from the "technology validation phase" to the "product delivery phase."
