InterstellOr's Space Tourism Capsule Makes Progress, Books More Customers
The life support evaluation Transcender-1 capsule undergoing acceptance testing in September 2026. | Image: InterstellOr
Encouraged by the results of a short drop test in January, space tourism company InterstellOr (穿越者) has continued to make progress on various systems and components of its sub-orbital Transcender-1 (穿越者壹号) space tourism capsule.
In August, a full-scale development capsule was brought to the company’s Anji County (安吉县) testing base1 for environmental management and life support systems evaluations. Those systems were under testing until mid-September to verify the capsule’s airtightness, structural strength when pressurized, and passive thermal management capabilities.
Notably, those evaluations took place without any items installed inside to represent passenger seats, screens, or lights inside. Further environment and life support system tests are planned for the future with those present.
The capsule used for those trials may be the same one that was used in the drop tests, with multiple large window holes cut out and glass installed and secured by a new outer shell, alongside a protruding entryway and nosecone.
Several weeks before that, efforts in making launch escape systems thrusters, critical for keeping passengers safe in the event of an issue on the way out of the atmosphere, were revealed. In a blog post shared in late June, a single thruster had its basic characteristics verified by pushing a high-pressure gas through it and against a thick sheet of metal, throwing it to the end of a controlled distance on a rail2.
InterstellOr says that the test allows them to proceed towards a zero-altitude abort test3, but that will be some time away as the thruster is yet to have propellant flowing through it on a test stand.
Whilst that is yet to happen, it was detailed that the abort system will be set up in a ‘pusher’ configuration like SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, made up of multiple sets of thrusters4 tightly integrated with the capsule to push it off the top of a booster using the thrust it generates56.
, it is receiving its windows while the outer shell was removed (top right), and a launch escape system thruster as of June 2026 (bottom right).")The life support evaluation Transcender-1 capsule set up at the Anji County testing base (left), it is receiving its windows while the outer shell was removed (top right), and a launch escape system thruster as of June 2026 (bottom right). | Image: InterstellOr
Relatedly, the company put out a pre-procurement notice in July to announce that they intend to buy thirty flights of a rocket booster from a suitable domestic launch enterprise to send the 8,000-kilogram, 4-meter-wide Transcender-1 above the Kármán line7. A few details were provided, including that InterstellOr intends to pre-pay an undisclosed portion and offer collaboration on human spaceflight technologies with whoever is chosen, following a competitive selection process.
News on booster procurement is yet to be followed up, but launch firm Galactic Energy, of the twenty-three times flown Ceres-1 and soon to debut Pallas-1, is a probable candidate to be placing a bid, as they became a partner of InterstellOr earlier this year. Additionally, Galactic Energy’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Liu Baiqi (刘百奇), has booked a flight onboard Transcender-1, secured in the middle of last year.
A couple of wealthy individuals have also booked places. Guangzhou Grandview Group’s (广州正佳集团)8 Chief Executive Officer Xie Meng (谢萌) secured a spot in December 2025, while Zhu Yuanmu (朱元木), Chief Executive Officer at Shandong Weilong Food Co Ltd (山东伟龙食品有限公司)9 signed on in mid-August. Actor and model Huang Jingyu (黄景瑜) joined the company’s wait list in January. Seventy-three-year-old recipient of the honorary title ‘National Model Worker (全国劳动模范)’ Huang Xiaochi (黄小池) decided to take up the opportunity should it manifest. And most recently, on September 29th, Chen Jie (陈捷), Chairman of Hunan Huade Yucai Education Technology Co Ltd (湖南华德育才教育科技有限公司)10, signed for a ticket via his company.
First publicly known interest from a customer came in May 2024, when members of the Al Maktoum family of Dubai met InterstellOr’s Chief Executive Officer Lei Shiqing (雷诗情)11. In March 2025, a chance to fly was provided to Chinese-American poet Lin Xiaoyan (林小颜) and Li Licheng (李立浧), an eighty-five-year-old academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in April 2025.
Over twenty individuals are reported to have booked a seat onboard suborbital flights of Transcender-1 at a price of 3 million Yuan (447,330 United States Dollars, as of October 1st) with a ten percent deposit. Flying all of them would require four trips above the Kármán line, as the capsule only has space for six.
Selling tickets to customers is not the only way InterstellOr is raising capital for Transcender-1, with two funding rounds completed this year. A ‘Pre-A’ raise of over 100 million Yuan (14.91 million United States Dollars) in May was backed by private firms Toread Group (探路者集团), Shenzhen Zhongtian Huifu Fund Management Co Ltd (深圳中天汇富基金管理有限公司), BeFor Capital (彬复资本), and an unnamed leading internet enterprise. Further capital of an undisclosed amount was provided by a ‘Pre-A+’ round in August through the market-oriented Jinda Capital (金达资本) and the provincially linked Sichuan Guojing Innovation Investment Management Co Ltd (四川国经创新投资管理有限公司), alongside the last two of the previous raise. Those follow on from early seed and angel rounds.
, Xie Meng (bottom left), Li Licheng (center), Zhu Yuanmu (top right), and Liu Baiqi (bottom right) after they secured a spot to fly on Transcender-1.")Lei Shiqing with Huang Xiaochi (top left), Xie Meng (bottom left), Li Licheng (center), Zhu Yuanmu (top right), and Liu Baiqi (bottom right) after they secured a spot to fly on Transcender-1. | Image: InterstellOr
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Located administratively in Huzhou (湖州市), Zhejiang (浙江) province.
About one meter.
Like the Mengzhou (梦舟) crew capsule performed in June 2025.
Further details on SpaceX’s system are available here.
See that in action with a zero-altitude (on the launch pad) test:
And an in-flight abort test:
100 kilometers from sea level.
A real estate, energy and chemical production, and tourism conglomerate.
They primarily make snack products.
They sell products for educational institutions below the college level.
A former China Central Television (中国中央电视台) host who later studied for a Master's Degree in Applied Psychology at Renmin University of China (中国人民大学). For more, see her Baidu page.